Writing with Runes
by Heirx
Summary: 4th Year AU, Harry wants to find out how the magic of the goblet works and discovers something far more significant. The first story published on FF, so please comment, thanks. The story is complete, just releasing the pages day by day to give me time to work on the next. Based on the Prompt from Reddit user asifbaig.
1. Chapter 1

Harry could not help but continue to think about his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire. He had gotten the chance to see the slip of parchment with his name on it.

He was sure that the name had come from a homework assignment. Which got him to thinking about how that had worked. They had to write their name and school then enter that was clear.

So it was not the intent of wanting to enter, as he had not intended to enter. It was not the act of writing a name and school that made the difference. No, it had been the simple name written in his own hand.

So how exactly had that even worked? How had his name written on an assignment parchment been still valid enough to link to him?

Looking up from his homework around the common room he made up his mind. He grew weary of the staring, the whispers, the sneers and heckles. Grabbing up his stuff he made his way to the Gryffindor Commons exit when he heard Ron speak up.

"Too good for us huh Potter? Going to hang out with some slimy snakes. Cheaters and liars like you deserve each other!"

Harry gripped his hand tighter ignoring Ron. Refusing to let him see how much it hurt. Ron was his best mate, through thick and thin. Bloody hell they'd stormed down into a thousand year old chamber together to save Ginny!

Harry kept on moving, he refused to let himself get wound up like the second year again. Harry started down the corridors making his way to the library. That was the one positive about this.

Unlimited access to the library as much as he wanted. Even Pence couldn't argue with him spending to much time or grabbing too many books anymore. Champion rights was a large deal according to what he had learned.

Digging through the massive library was always a chore. The library had aisle upon aisle of books with only minimal arrangement. He had found a few books on magical contracts and decided to give them a read through. If he was lucky his answer would be in these books.

It was hours later when Hermione finally interrupted his slog. He was glad for the interruption, as the words were beginning to blur together.

"Harry, it's time for supper already. What are you reading? Is it for the history of magic essay due Monday? You could have asked me, I would have been more than happy to help out Harry. You don't have anything written down yet though. Your parchment is rather bare. Harry you know I will help you with your homework, don't wear yourself out with it."

As Hermione started her babbling Harry had at first started smiling. At least Hermione was still by his side, unlike Ron. He couldn't help feeling even more hurt though as she started her usual rant about him not doing anything.

While Ron and he needed help it was usually Ron that was the one that needed help. Harry never needed more than a few minor corrections on his work. Still, at least Hermione was there for him, even if it could get annoying.

He was sure Ron would come around soon enough, they were best mates after all. They would look back at this all in the future and laugh about it.

"I'm fine Hermione, let me put this on a holding nook and I'll catch up in the great hall soon okay?"

Hermione smiled at Harry taking care of the books so well. Other students often left the books laying around when they got the chance.

"Alright, Harry I'll save you a spot okay?"

Harry nodded back and began stacking up the book putting them in an alcove nearby. Signing his name on the register so the librarian would know he would be coming back to read more on the books he started to walk away.

It was halfway out of the library that he froze like he was with a freezing charm. Signing his name had magically informed the librarian who, what, when and where someone had placed books.

That was not exactly what he was looking for but there was still something in the writing of his name that had been magic. Making his way to the librarian he steeled himself for what would likely not be a fun conversation.

"Madam Pince I have a question for you if you would not mind. How does the book holding alcoves work when you sign your name? I am trying to figure out how my name worked from the Goblet, I swear I didn't enter it but I still have to compete. I want to know how it works. The register will give me a good idea on how it works. Please!"

Irma had heard many stories about wanting some piece of info or another over the years. Desperate pleas for access to the restricted section, a spell to copy a protected book and many others. This was the first time she had given it more than a second thought. Her answer had and would have likely always been the same, no.

Still, there were two things in Harry's favor this time. For one the reason was almost a reasonable point. Still not enough to convince her though it was a good one. The real reason though was Harry was a Champion and as such had Champion Rights. This included access to all books that Hogwarts had available.

Thinking for a bit she nodded her head and filled out a restricted section slip. The name of two books were written on the slip. These were the books she used to keep the magic of the library up to date so she was well aware of the names.

"These books are not to be taken from the restricted section. You are not to share them with anyone, and you are to keep any secrets of the library secret. Champion or not I will bring my full wrath down on you should the library be compromised. You will return this note to my desk or I will ban you from the library for the rest of your time here."

Harry took the note from the stern-faced witch. He had no doubt she would follow through on her promise. Snape may be a bully who enjoyed taunting children, Madam Pince was an avenging god striking down on any who defiled her books or library.

Supper forgot Harry made his way over to the restricted section looking for the books. Madam Pince had labeled where the book wore so he found the section easily enough. Though the name was a bit strange. The Teachers Section was Located Three Rows in the Restricted Section on the Right. After that she had given better instructions for the shelf he was looking for.

Finding the section, he grabbed the two books and sat down at the table next to the shelf. The first was a book on library spells that Hermione would likely sacrifice her firstborn to get hold of. These spells would make searching through the library significantly easier for anyone. Why were they not public knowledge?

Reading further into the spells he found his answer rather quickly. Many of the spells were either delicate to outside magic meaning any other active magic would collapse them, or they would react badly causing chaos. If all the students went about casting these spells it would be a nightmare.

Still, he wrote the name of the book down, he would be getting his own copy and a copy for Hermione. After she graduated, as she would not be able to stop herself from using the spells while still in Hogwarts.

Within the tome was part of the answer he was looking for though. When a name was written in the registers a student's magic was imprinted with that name. It was not an important line and the book did not go into much detail on the register spell work.

It was a start, more of one than he had found so far. He skimmed the book over again taking a few notes along the way. There were a few spells that he could use if he did so without anyone else finding out that would be helpful.

The second book was even more helpful. It was a sort of handmade trouble workers guidebook to issues that had come about in the library over the ages. Some of the issues were quite ridiculous while others scared the daylights out of him.

Compulsion charmed books that would make the user read until they died due to lack of sleep, food, and water. What the bleeding hell was wrong with people? Finally, after skimming heavily, some of this stuff was gruesome, he found his big breakthrough. It was a recent entry, only being written in the 19th century.

Pens, and later fountain pens, had become in vogue for brief periods. The ease of use and cleaner delivery of ink had made them popular. That was until a serious issue was found with them at least. The metal of the pen reacted as a blockage when people signed with them. They made magical contracts useless as their magical signature was wrecked with the non-organic material introduced.

When a wizard or witch wrote anything the naturally imbue a sliver of their magic when they do. Even a doodle or quick note had traces of the user's magic embedded in them. When a wizard signed their name, their magic reacted even greater pushing more of their magic into the signature. This gave the writing more weight magically speaking.

Only through using natural items, such as bird feather quills, organic inks and such, could a user's magic be properly written.

Harry made a note to get himself a metal-tipped quill charmed to hide the metal tip as soon as possible. He did not want his magical signature just floating around everywhere he wrote anything.

As he put the books back he began looking over his notes in thought. So by signing his homework with his name with the correct writing tools he had imbued enough magic to count as his magical signature.

It did not matter that he was not using that signature for anything related to the Goblet. Moody had said it was confounded into accepting the name. So a confounding charm and a signature had been enough for the powerful artifact to tie his magic to the tournament. Shaking his head in exasperation he returned the note to Madam Pince thinking on what all he had learned.

Thinking about what he had learned over the next few days it had begun to really bother him. He could not help but feel that there was something about what he had read that was important.

Finally giving up remembering on his own as a bad shot he looked up to speak to Hermione before stopping. That's right, Madam Pince had made it clear he was to not share anything he had learned.

Hermione saw his pensive face and started talking. She was trying to keep things on an even keel for Harry. The less he worried about this awful tournament the better he would do.

Hoping to keep things as normal as possible she smiled encouragingly at him as she went on.

"Harry, what is it? You know you can talk to me about anything. Is it about the potions assignment we are working on? Having problems coming up with Yellow Snouted Iris reactions?"

Harry had to admit Hermione was a good friend but this time she couldn't help him. Huffing he let her know his dilemma.

"Sorry Hermione, Champion Stuff I actually am not allowed to talk about. I really wish you could help but I can't say any more about it."

Harry figured a half-truth would be easier for Hermione to swallow than that truth. That Pince had made him promise to keep library spells secret. That would go over as well as a Niffler in a jewelry store.

It was Hermione's turn to huff as she was clearly unhappy about not being told something. Still, she was trying to help Harry so she calmed down and offered what support she could.

"I wish I could help Harry. This whole thing is a mess so far and I just want to make sure you make it through fine. Here let's review our homework and make sure there is nothing missing."

Harry smiled as his friend went about making herself, and him, to busy to worry about anything else.

After an hour of checking, editing, and review Harry looked over at Hermione's homework when his answer came once again. Hermione was studying the interaction of a series of runes for her Ancient Runes class.

Runes were an application of written magic, of a sort, that drew from the persons magic to change things. Runes were no different than just writing out an effect you want to happen and having it happen. Well, that couldn't be right, could it? That made no sense at all, surely somebody would have figured this out before now!?

He stood up and looked to Hermione his face intense.

"Thanks, Hermione, I can't tell you what or why, but you were a huge help! Got to go!"

Hermione was startled but smiled anyway. It was great to see that Harry had found the answer he needed, even better she had been able to help him. Though she was rather confused about how she had helped.

He made his way back over to the library as he reviewed his thoughts. He needed to find out the history of Runes, who and how were they first made. What caused them to come about in the first place?

He had spent all his free time these last few days digging through old dusty tomes. Making discrete use of the safer library spells he had found some great books on the subject. What bothered him was there were many schools of thought on how the various runes had come about.

As the tomes got newer they had become nothing more than rehashing of previous works mostly. Sure a new arguments for or against were introduced but the core theories never changed. About three centuries or so ago it had been debated wildly until several ministries had pushed through a change from the ICW.

The ICW riding high from the recent implementation of the Statute of Secrecy had thrown their weight around setting several standards. He noted some of them to look into later though for now Runes were his focus.

The official ICW theory was runes acted as conduits for magic through specific ways. Stroke order, angle of stroke, the distance between runes, and even line thickness. They had written off any inconsistencies before this as previous runes were more primitive. Now the rules of runes were more understood and so the rules were needed to refine the usage of runes even further.

The issue was this flew in the face of several other theories of the time the ICW theory could not explain. Instead of coming up with answers or a better theory they had buried the truth. The ICW came down hard on any person who disagreed with their findings. Three centuries later and a once poorly thought of theory was now considered fact.

"Bloody Hell!" The swear broke from his lips before he could even think about it. Looking about he poked his head out from the corner table on the third level seeing if anyone noticed him or not.

Sighing in relief he was happy to find no one had heard his outburst. He knew what he had found was not something most would notice. It was buried across journals, obscure publications and letters written between notable wizards over the last millennia.

Without the spells he had found it would have taken him years to search the entire library to piece this all together. The truth about how Runes worked was no one knew how they worked.

Instead now Harry had learned the truth and thought that just maybe his idea was not so wild after all. First year they had learned that intent was important in magic. You had to want the spell to work before you cast, or it would never work.

Were Runes the same? Did you have to believe what the rune would do for it to work? If so then Harry had just stumbled into a secret of incredible proportions.

Surely there had to be some examples to prove he was right. Something out there to show his ideas held merit. Items runically enchanted with regular script. Thinking of any examples from History of Magic of Enchanted items something once again niggled in his brain.

Something enchanted he knew on a close level. Something he had ran across that sometime in the past.

The Mirror! It had simple wording written in reverse on it. While he knew nothing else about the spell work, he had read up on it later. The mirror was famous for being a unique work. No one could figure out the spells involved that made it work.

Perhaps it was the words, words that others had dismissed the magic of as they were not traditional runes. If that was what was going on, then Harry would have his proof.

Proof, that was it! Hermione had a rune writing kit she used to test runes safely. Harry needed to order one and keep it quiet.

If he was right with his theory, it could be the advantage he needed to survive this tournament.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry swore once again as the tablet broke on the table. He had taken to using an abandoned room near the library to test his theory this last week. It was already November fourteenth, he only had ten days to make this work!

He could feel his magic flowing into the tablet as he etched each letter forming the word he wanted to use. LUMOS, Harry had decided to use the spell wording for light to start with. He hoped it would help form the idea of what he wanted easier. It was a shortcut hopefully that would help him prove his concept easier.

Still he could not figure out what was going on. He could feel the same intent and feeling as the Lumos spell flowing into each letter as he wrote out the word. For some reason it was not coming together!

Wait, it wasn't coming together!

He thought of words not as a group of individual letters but as a whole series of letters forming a word. Was he breaking his broom before he stepped on the pitch?

Using the Reparo spell on the tablet it reset to its base state. Thinking of the word he began writing it again. _LUMOS_

As he finished the last of the word it lit up like the tip of his wand rather brightly.

"Yes! I did it!"

That Harry was excited was putting it mildly. He had just proven his theory was correct! That he could create runes with regular script, well connected script, but still! It was a start!

Casting a Reparo again the tablet cleaned itself and the light gave way with a mild pop. Now he had proven his idea, how would he make it workable?

Runic battle wizards was not a thing. This was one thing everyone had agreed on as far as he had found. It took time to produce runes. Even if it was only ten seconds it was ten seconds you were not doing anything other than writing something out.

Harry was always more of a think on your feet type of guy. Getting up he began pacing around the room thinking of how he could write something with great speed.

Pacing about he was waving his wand in irritation as he thought. He knew better than you wave his wand while thinking, everyone knew better. Firstie's knew better than to wave your wand about. Still Harry needed something to help him think.

Looking at his wand as he waved it about a niggle in his brain started tickling. He kept pacing, staring at his wand as it randomly waved back and forth. Something about this was kicking his brain, saying it was the solution to his problems. But what could it be? What did waving his wand have to do with writing out words?

A series of swear words broke free as he realized where the answer was locked away in his mind. Second year, in the Chamber of Secrets, Tom had wrote in the air itself with his magic somehow. Thinking back, he remembered Tom had written his whole name rather fast with that fire stuff in the Chamber.

If Harry could figure out how to do that, with enough practice it could easily be useable. Tom had been rather sloppy about his writing so Harry felt he could make it workable.

Once again taking advantage of the spells he had pinched from the library magic book, Harry searched for information on writing with magic in the air.

He had many false starts at first but as he narrowed down his wording, he started finding better results. It was not a fast or even efficient process really using the safer library spell. Still it was far more useful than not using the spells.

While it was interesting to be able to right words with clouds it was not what he needed. That also held true with being able to shape snowflakes into words as well.

He found the fire spell Tom had used but did not want to use that unless he found no better option. The less he had in common with the murdering git the better. It was a divination book where he found his answer finally.

Reading further into the divination text he swore once again. Whatever Trelawney was teaching was not anything like what he was reading here. This was useful stuff, maybe he should start paying attention in class, or at least reading his textbooks?

It was a spell used with xylomancy, divining with twigs, that gave him answer. The full thing was in three parts though he only needed the first part, maybe the second now that he thought about it.

First a spell with a quick swish and a downward tap wrote the word in whole. No having to write out the words letter by letter! It required focus when casting but you could make the entire word or words spring from your wand all at once. The more words the further the focus was needed.

The spell was even more useful as it had a containment portion built into it. This kept the words stable long enough for the second portion of the process for xylomancy. A footnote stating the more magic injected into the words after being formed made it more effective almost had him dancing for joy.

The second part of the technique involved the embedding the word into the twig and the final was the casting of the divination.

Practicing a few times in the library corner study nook he was in he felt ready to give the Lumos a try with it. Checking to make sure no one would notice his attempt. When he was sure he was alone he cast the spell with Lumos as his focus. The word appeared before him while he pushed his intent even more into his casting. The word floated there bright golden letters flowing together lighting up the room.

He pulled his wand away and the letter stayed floating in the air lighting up the room. Waving his hand through it did nothing though when his wand touched it the word wavered then collapsed.

Smiling to himself he put the other books back and looked for more information on the first spell used. He still felt uncomfortable letting this information out. If he could hide it further, he would feel much better about this.

Harry was not wanting the ICW or anyone else to figure out what he was doing with runes. Reading on some of the sanctions the ICW had laid out before made it clear, they could play hard ball when they wanted to.

The spell only gave him a few leads, though two of them were well worth it. The first was a minor modification the let him change the font of the words. He chose a flowing overly stylized script that he could only make out the words since he was the one writing them. It looked more like something he would see on the side of a building than actual letters but he considered that a bonus.

The second book had been just as useful for hiding what he was doing. It let him change the color from the bright gold base color. He settled on a bright silver color that was hard to make any details out with due to its shiny color.

With the knowledge of what he needed, and his notes prepared he left the library making his way to the abandoned room nearby he had claimed as his.

It took him the rest of the day and past curfew before he finally had the spell down quickly. The modifications turned the spell into an upward diagonal slashing motion with a twirl and a downward tap at the end. It looked almost like an uppercase R written in reverse starting from the leg.

It took some work getting back to the dorm without getting caught though he had taken to carrying his cloak everywhere with him.

That next morning on the 15th he had double potions and honestly couldn't be bothered to go. Instead he made his way to his room pausing outside the room. He focused on the door and his desire for privacy.

It would be a good test and if it worked that would be great, if it failed, well he could learn from that as well.

Casting the spell, he focused on what he wanted to place on the door.

"This room is secret so stay away unless you're me, Property of Harry Potter"

He felt his magic spilling out of him filling each letter and word as they formed in the air. Dear lord was it taking a carriage load of magic to fill it all!

Finally, after almost half a minute the words were fully formed, and they sunk into the door. Harry felt tired but not so much he needed a lie down. Heading inside he closed the door then took to resting for a few minutes on an old desk.

While he hadn't needed to lie down a break was nice. From what he could tell the magic had sunk in fulfilling what it was supposed to do. That got him to thinking about secrets, mainly his secrets. Dumbledore always seemed to know what he was thinking, and Snape was just as bad. He knew he wasn't a bad liar, so it had to be something else.

He started making a list of ideas on how to tell if he was lying or not while he was still getting his wind back to full. Some of the ideas were insane such as invisible listeners telling them what he did, to them being like comic books characters having telepathy!

No, he had narrowed it down to what he was pretty sure was the right answers. A combination of them knowing his tells and some scrying spells of some sort. Something that was always active and gave them info on what they wanted. That or it was something that they had learned to cast wandlessly instead of always being active.

Either way he needs a way to hide his tells and block whatever scrying they were using. He knew from the library spells what Trelawney taught was crap for true divination spells. Information scrying was effective and useful. He would have to dig some more of that up still in fact.

For now, he needed an idea on how to protect his newest secret. Dumbledore was a good man, but he was still the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. The ICW was something Harry wanted as little to do with as possible right now, so secrets had to be kept.

Taking off his glasses to rub his eyes he was realized he had something to places the runes on! Putting them back on he started trying to write up his newest runic phrase.

The phrase had to protect his secrets and block magic from learning about him. He started making a list of words and then playing around with them to build what he needed.

"Calm and controlled, that would keep them from telling I am lying. Maybe Collected instead? Then something to block information from other magic. Something like secret but not that word. Secrets were something once learned could not be hidden again."

"What was that Nazi machine, it made codes, but they changed all the time? Only when we got one did we break it. Enigma! The Enigma Machine, that was the name! So far I have Collected and Enigma."

Playing around with the wording it seemed okay but not really cool enough. Harry wanted it to work and be wicked while doing so.

"Collected, Harry Potter is an Enigma."

He also wanted to add something to his glasses making them see better as well. He was sure the prescription was at least a little off by now. Another list of words joined the first and he kept playing around until he found one that worked. It didn't sound awesome as he had wanted, but it would do he guessed.

"These Glasses of Extraordinary Sight complete Self-Possessed Harry Potter, Enigma to all others. No that doesn't work that well. Need something better!"

"Self-Possessed Harry Potter owns these Glasses of Extraordinary Sight, Enigma to Others. Not great but I can't spend from now until the first task rewriting it all."

They all sounded stupid to Harry, but they were the best of a bad lot, the last one being his best so far. The word count was higher than the door, though he was sure he could handle the few extra words. Really if he wound up finding a better sentence later, he would just use that instead on another set of glasses.

Checking over himself he made sure he had recovered from earlier before continuing. Casting a Reparo on the glasses he wanted them in top shape before adding any runes to them.

Writing the words, he took his time slowly filling them in. He hoped that with the longer time he would be able to recover some as he went. After a few minutes he could tell his attention was starting to wander. Biting his lip he focused on filling the words with as much magic as possible. He did not want to do this again anytime soon.

It was almost ten minutes of focused boredom before he finally finished. Harry was an active type of bloke; he was no Hermione that was for sure. Still he only felt a bit tired and the spelled words were brimming with magic.

Pushing them down into the glasses he waited as they settled. The words seemed to warp the glasses slightly giving them an almost mirage like look. Harry picked them up putting them on and gasped at the sight.

Colors were filling his sight in a clarity he never remembered before. He could feel a confidence well up in him as he could truly see for what felt like the first time. It was a hot wind sweeping through him.

No wait, there was a hot wind sweeping through him. It was combing his body expelling foreign magic from his body! It had started at his eyes and spread from there. His scar was burning though nothing like his first year facing Quirrell with Voldemort.

He felt a fierce burning sensation wash over his whole body and his scar broke open letting a burst of bright green magic free. He began coughing as well with red, blue and silver globs of magic being expelled. The pores of his body opened, and a slick grey sweat poured out of him and then the problems happened.

He needed to use the lavatory, now! With no chance of making it he disrobed and made do in a corner of the room. He cast many cleaning charms on the mess and hygiene charms on himself until well past being clean.

Getting dressed he felt his magic pulse out from him starting from his glasses once again. It spread to his hand pushing from his wand outward. He saw several spurts of magic drip from his wand and a few sparks from his clothes as well. His robes stayed mostly the same though he did need a color changing charm on the trim now, his Gryffindor trim missing. The comfort charms on his shoes would be an issue but he could always rune them later.

Still he felt cleaner and lighter than he ever had before. Whatever magic had been cast on him over the time was no longer an issue with him. Nonetheless while he felt like floating, he was still worn out after that ordeal. He cast a cushioning charm on the desk before sitting down and relaxing.

Waking with a start Harry realized he had fallen asleep. Checking the time on his watch he realized it was later than he had imagined. It was after lunch hours so he would need to wait for supper before he could eat again. Well a missed meal was no big deal, so he started thinking about anything else he could add runes to.

That's right, his shoes had lost the comfort charms on them!

"Non-Slip shoes of comfort" there short and sweet. It took him less than a minute to charge but over three to figure out how to put a sentence over two shoes.

He finally decided to rewrite them and let the spell fade away.

"Both shoes are Non-Slip and Comfortable."

He decided the actual sentence would go like this

"Both Shoes are Non-Slip, Both Shoes and Comfortable"

Using Both Shoes would tie them together and mimicking the twins having half the sentence on one and half on the other. That should tie them together easily enough and work no problem.

Since he was sure it would work and his understanding of runes, that intent was key, would make it happen.

Telling himself that a few times over he cast the spell again watching as it split going to both shoes as he needed it to.

"Yes! It worked!" Harry slipped his shoes on and was quite happy with the results. The felt better than ever before and he gripped the floor perfectly.

The string to two successful tests had gotten him excited and he got up pacing the room enjoying his far more comfortable shoes. He had no clue what the tasks would be or what he would have to use to accomplish them.

He would have his glasses and shoes no matter what unless it was a sleeping competition. His wand was something else he would have for the tasks as it was a wizard, not a muggle competition.

What runes would he add to his wand? That one was something he was going to put some serious thought into.

He wanted it to be something that would help him short and long term. Summoning, grip, strength, power boost, and control.

"Harry Potters Written Rune Reinforcing Wand of Gripping and Returning" Harry was sure runes were going to be his path to success in the future. Hmmm, once again scrying spells was a concern so he rearranged the wording again.

"Returning Hidden Wand of Rune Writing, Gripped by Harry Potter" No that was absolute garbage. He needed something short and flowing that also got his point across. He could just write out "Returning Gripping Hidden Rune Writing Wand Owner Harry Potter" it just felt off to him.

He was making this up as he went so any gut feelings were being listened to as he had nothing else to go off.

"Harry Potters Perfect Wand of Hidden Rune Writing" It was missing some of what he had wanted but for some reason it clicked better than anything else he could think of.

He cast the spell holding it as he filled it to the brim with magic. It took well past the time for his glasses but this time he wanted perfection. Nothing short of that lofty goal would work for him this time.

At last the spell was on the point of collapse from magic overload when he placed his wand down willing his magic to imbue his wand. The wand lit up as the magic filled it bringing the runes into focus.

Finally, it laid bare the magic settled and he lifted the wand from the desk. Just like the first time he heard an echo of phoenix song as he bonded even deeper with his wand than before. They were one now, a sum far greater than their parts.

Smiling to himself he checked the time and realized supper would be served soon enough. Leaving the room, he closed the door behind him as he made his way to the great hall.

There Hermione was sitting beside Ron talking to him about something or other. He did not want to make a scene, so he just sat a bit further down the table. Harry couldn't hold her spending time with Ron against her even if he really wanted to.

It seemed the school was now fully shunning him as no one even glanced in his direction during the entire meal, much less spoke to him. Feeling especially dejected he made his way back to his dorm.

He was back well before the others, so he readied for bed closing the curtains and trying to sleep. It took a bit of time, especially with the boys talking about him. Ron was not being sparing any kindness to Harry that was for sure.


	3. Chapter 3

It was November 17th and two days had passed since his runic success. That was a silver lining he could find, his success in runes. Literally he had yet to find a single person in the school that was even pretending to not shun him anymore. The teachers overlooked him, and Hermione was never away from Ron it seemed anymore.

Even when she was alone, she avoided looking at him and he couldn't bring himself to start the conversation. He had decided that until someone spoke to him, he was going to follow suit and shun them all in return.

The shunning was offset by his second silver lining. The Daily Prophet had published the Triwizard Champions Weighing of the Wands article and he was not a part of it. In fact, there was only a small blurb saying he had been unavailable for pictures or interview. The front page had a picture of the champions with their respective headmasters behind them.

Harry was happy that they had gotten on board with him on not wanting to be a champion even if he had to take part by contract. That they had left him out of the article was a good sign!

He had spent the entire day doing whatever he wanted, not even when he ran across Snape had the man gotten on him for skipping class. Harry had enough and was exploring the castle thinking of what he was going to do for the task in six days.

He made his way to the less used corridors until he found a new room. It was an old dueling room that was only a hallway over from the defense room from the looks of it. Muggle weaponry rested against a wall though they were not in good shape anymore.

Seeing the weapons and shields did get him to thinking causing him to let out a small groan. At this rate he was gone to turn into a Ravenclaw. He had made excellent stuff so far but besides the wand performing several magnitudes of order better he had nothing else prepared for the first task .

There were some interesting pieces around the room though. Pikes and swords of all types were along the walls. A selection of different shields was racked not far from the weapons as well. There were even a few pistols with equipment that drew his interest. He had no desire to be a gunslinger, though the powder horns drew his eyes.

They reminded him of the old fashioned hunting horns. When warriors announced their entry onto the battlefield with a call to war. He found one that was both in good condition and looked similar to what he imagined a Viking hunting horn looked like.

It was wooden with worn ivory caps on each end. The plugs had come loose though he had no use for those anyways. A Reparo caused cracks to seal up and cleaned the dirt off though that was it. Still, the beaten look with the intricate scrollwork was awesome.

With war-torn days of old on his mind it got him to thinking of war banners, did the house of Potter have a coat of arms? He had no idea and was determined to find out. Taking the horn, he made his way out of the room back into the castle halls.

Once again no one even glanced at him as he made his way down to the library. It was starting to bring him down though he refused to allow himself to be brought down. He would show them all that he was stronger than them. They could shun him all they wanted; he would prevail in the end.

Even with the few safe library spells, it took him over an hour to find a book covering the history of the Potters. Nothing was known of them until they appeared in the Kingdom of Kent in the 6th Century. Traders and craftsmen the Potters were a wealthy clan. They settled down in Kent where they were still thought to live when the book had been published.

Godric's hollow was clear on the other side of the isle? What the hell had his family been doing over there when they were from Kent? Confused he found that the house of Potter did in fact not have a coat of arms. The muggle house Potter did though the Magic House Potter did not have one.

Harry had no desire to lay claim to the muggle families' rightful coat of arms and so decided to make his own. He started making a mental list and right away a few things became clear.

He hated his scar so no lightning bolts thank you very much. Wands were covering almost every bit of heraldry he had found so far. Magic animals were also popular and he was wanting to stand out.

A basilisk fang was a must, a stag as well. A deep green solid field with red trim, a white stag in the middle with the fang and a hunting horn flanking the stag.

The red and green for his mother, stag for his father, the horn and fang would be for himself. The magical house of Potter would have a standard he would proudly carry.

That night he spent hours in his study room refining the image until it looked exactly how he wanted it to be. Now he had to figure out how to get it made. Shite, Harry had not a naffing clue how to go about getting that done. With the school shunning him it wasn't like he could ask around.

Deciding to call it a night he made his way back to the dorm thinking about how he could get a banner made by the first task. He had a few ideas on what he could do with runes to it. He had already finalized his idea for what he was going to call the House Potter War Clarion. Bastards wanted to shun him he would give them something to remember.

Sitting up from his bed a thought struck him like a bolt. Know that he had thought of it he would not be able to sleep until he checked.

Not even bothering with his cloak anymore he left his dorm well past curfew. He had passed Filch on patrol last night and the man had not even acknowledged Harry. There was no point in sneaking about when everyone ignored your existence.

It was facing the entrance to the chamber of secrets that he heard someone actually speak to him for the first time in days. It was a quiet and tired voice of a girl, which made sense as this was the girl's loo.

"Well you're not a girl, are you? Are you looking for Blibbering Humdingers as well?"

Turning to the sound he found a petite blonde girl in her nightdress staring at him with her head cocked to the side. Deciding to ignore most of the question he was trying to not stare at her in her nightdress.

"Umm… no, I'm going to visit the Chamber of Secrets. Do you want to come?"

He wasn't sure why he invited her along. Part of it was due to being flustered over a young girl in her nightdress. Another part, the larger part, was due to her not shunning him.

"Oh yes, will you take me down there to perform dark rituals to call the ancient beast that will cleanse the school? If so I need to tell you I am allergic to goblin silver, so use a moon silver blade instead okay."

Harry decided that it was best to go along with it. He was desperate enough for attention he would take what he could get. Besides she was cute so that helped a great deal.

"Thanks, I'm sure that could be important to someone to know. I don't plan to do any dark rituals or call ancient beasts tonight. Just need to grab some stuff from down there real quick."

She nodded along and moved over beside him.

"Well how do we get to the chamber? Do we have to hold hands? Daddy said I could only hold hands with a boy if I was married or there was an important reason. Going to a thousand-year-old secret chamber seems important."

Harry had to laugh letting a smile split his face for the first time since his name came from that blasted goblet.

"Hand-holding isn't required though it would make the big slide more fun so we can do that."

A blush lit up Harry's face as he held out his hand not sure if she would take it or not. Distracting himself he looked over to the sinks and hissed for them to open.

He was startled slightly as her hand slipped into his but he smiled even more looking down at her hand. Tugging it lightly he made his way over to the slide. Casting a Lumos as he remembered how dark it had been.

Realizing he was holding the hand of a girl without knowing her name he blushed even harder as he started talking again.

"I'm Harry Potter by the way, nice to meet you."

Luna looked down at the hand she was holding and let out a quiet laugh.

"Yes, nice to meet you Harry Potter, I am Luna Lovegood, you can call be Luna if you want."

Harry was also staring at the he hand held in his as he replied to her.

"Luna is a pretty name, call me Harry please."

A smile broke across her face as she was taking in everything that was happening.

"I would be happy to call you Harry."

Taking a step closer he looked up to her face only to see she was looking at him as well. They smiled to each other before going down the slide.

Harry watched as Luna stared at the chamber and carcass of the dead basilisk. It was not a pleasant smell at all. Harry had gagged and nearly vomited until the smell had disappeared quite suddenly.

Luna had informed him she was well familiar with the Bubble-Head charm from the expeditions with her father around the world. It seemed like a mighty useful charm to learn and he made a mental note of it.

Still without the living magic of the basilisk the venom and blood had decomposed the body something fierce. The flesh and skin around the venom had been the first to go as the head was nearly completely bare.

The whole of the beast was a rotting vile mess that was beyond saving. It was the skull that he had wanted and the skull was fine along with the rib bones as well. He wanted to send off the skull and rib bones to be made into his banner stand and pole.

Well at least one person was not shunning him so he decided to go with his only hope.

"Luna I want to get a banner made before the first task. If there is time I would also want the skull and ribs used for a stand and pole. Do you have any suggestions on how to actually get that done?"

Luna looked down at him from where she had climbed on top of the statue. Tilting her head she appeared to be thinking.

"Nope, but if we send them to daddy he can have them ready in a few days at most for you. Just promise to let me do an interview with you and it's a deal!"

Harry didn't even have to think about it he smiled up at Luna and agreed.

"How will we get it all to him though?"

Harry had only wanted to check if it was still here and usable or not. He hadn't thought on how he was going to transport the giant items.

"Shrinking charms of course."

Here matter of fact and simple solution had Harry facepalming at the answer. That was such an obvious solution he had no idea how it had slipped his mind. Casting some powerful cutting charms he managed to get the skull and a dozen ribs free. Levitating them to the side he began casting scouring charms at them until he was sure they were clean.

Shrinking them took a little bit of effort but was doable. After Luna was done measuring the nostrils of the statue, she agreed she was ready to leave as well.

It was once they were at the bottom of the slide that Harry realized he had no idea how he had gotten up the last time. Thinking for a second he started hissing words at the stairs. Stairs, steps, walkway, not-slide, reverse, go up, and others before giving it up as a bad job.

Resolving to bring a broom next time he cast sticking charms on Luna and his shoes trudging up the slide. The incline as surprisingly low and it took far longer going up than down for some reason. Chalking it up to magic doing strange things once again he was happy it had not been a total slog.

"I had fun Luna, thanks for going down with me. You want me to walk you to your dorm?"

Luna was smiling at first, it had been fun, but by the end her smile was noticeably forced.

"No I don't sleep in Ravenclaw Tower, it's full of nargles."

Harry had no clue what a nargle was but he recognized when someone was saying something was bad without saying it was bad. He had tried that same thing until he had given up on that before at the Dursley's.

"Well I don't have anything special but I do have a hidden room you can use. It's really hidden, no one can find it swear!"

Luna smiled brightly as Harry offered his secret hideout to her. Secret hideouts were important as they were secret. That he would offer his for her made her happy.

"That would be nice, I carry a bed with me for nights when the nargles are really bad."

Harry was sure whatever was happening was likely on par with his shunning. Hogwarts was not a happy place for some, for some it was a horrible place sometimes. Harry decided that no matter what he would help Luna however he could.

They made their way to the room but as they approached it Luna found she couldn't see the room and was wandering off away from it non-stop. He tried to drag her into the room and even that didn't work.

It was only after he remembered what runes he had written that he realized what had happened. He tried to find the words to remove them but couldn't get them to leave the wood, at most they were visible for a minute or two before settling back down again. He tried to erase or change any of the words but they were fully integrated and resisted any change.

Finally after calling her name for what had to be the hundredth time he had an idea.

"Luna your last name was Lovegood right? It's important for what I want to try."

Luna looked up from the suit of armor that was for some reason important to her and nodded her head going back to inspecting the armor.

Harry called the writing back to the surface before casting the word spell again adding three more words to it. He planned to overlay the new words on top of the old ones. To prevent others from doing the same he also planned to end it with punctuation this time.

"This room is secret so stay away unless you're me, Property of Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood!"

Harry wasn't sure why he was so trusting of the girl but something about her made him trust her almost fully.

The spell was strong but since he was laying it over a near-identical one it was only a bit more intense than the first time. Still, after he finished, he sat down against the door panting.

Luna skipped over and stopped for a second. She read the words as they faded and smiled brighter than any Lumos ever cast. Seeing Harry was worn out she sat down beside him laying her head on his shoulder.

He had truly meant it when he said he had a secret room. She hadn't even been able to think about the room or door he had been talking about. Even him carrying her found her somehow falling out of his arms the one time they had tried that. This room was the most secure room she could imagine, and Harry had added her name to it!

Outside her family, no one had ever even approached doing something like this. It was an amazing thing that Harry had done for her. A room she would always be safe in, a room next to the library even!

A softly whispered thank-you escaped from her lips as she collected herself resting there beside Harry. How long they rested she could not say but soon enough Harry was jostling her to get up. He opened the door for her, and she entered into the medium-sized classroom. It was a large room of close size to the dada classroom.

Harry had only taken a small portion of the room leaving plenty for her to set up her portable bed. Levitating around some objects and casting a few cleaning charms it was set up easily enough.

The bed was shaped more like a tent with a comfy padded floor than a traditional bed. It was her travel bed and she was used to so there was no issue with it.

Harry looked at the bed and was interested in it. It looked like a circular tent that had an open flap on part of it. The whole thing was no more than a three feet tall and as many wide yet the inside looked a fair bit bigger.

"Luna is it bigger inside? Do you know how they did it? Was it runes?"

Luna smiled and began explaining the tent to an awestruck Harry.

"It's a magic tent, five times bigger on the inside than the out. It's enchanted not made with runes. I'm only in my first year of runes but I know people can't do that with normal runes. Yours can though, those were interesting. Especially how you embed them in the door instead of carving them in the door, really tricky."

Harry blushed again at her compliment this time, he was doing that a lot with her, blushing. He thought for a few seconds and came up with a good idea.

" I could make it always clean and comfortable for you, it would also keep you safe and have good dreams. Can I try, I'm sure it won't mess anything up."

Harry was sure it wouldn't mess anything up for one reason. He knew if that he was sure it would be fine then his magic would work fine. If he hesitated it would fail to work right.

"Are you sure Harry, do you need to rest first? The work on the door really made you tired. Maybe a rest up first and do the bed later?"

Harry yawned surprising himself at how tired he was. Nodding to her idea he wished her a good night and promised to come visit first thing in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite the late hour, Harry woke up early the next morning. He was replaying the events of yesterday in his mind. In reflection, he had shown her many of his secrets with no real reason to do so.

Well, there were reasons just not good ones, yet he would stand by his decision and see how things went from here. Just because she was the first person to talk to him in a week and she was a cute girl didn't mean he has to trust her.

Yeah there no sense in kidding himself, there was something about her that drew him in. He had no idea what it was but there was a niggling idea of something similar in the back of his mind. Harry was lacking the normal emotional context to understand any of what he was feeling besides he liked it. Growing up in a cupboard deprived of meaningful human touch does not make for well-adjusted young men.

It didn't matter anyway; he always went with his gut and his gut said she was trustworthy. He had started trying to get out of the room before the others or well after them these last few days. Having them only feet away from him ignoring him as if he wasn't there had become grating.

Harry made his way to what was now their room, something he shared with someone else. Someone who wasn't shunning him, someone to talk to, it felt great.

As he entered the room he heard Luna stir as she sat up rather abruptly, her wand pointed at him still half asleep.

"Wow! Sorry Luna, wanted to try the runes early so you could give them a go this morning."

Luna rubbed her eyes not fully awake yet but heard Harry wanted to do something to help and just nodded along.

"Okay Harry sounds great; I'm going back to sleep."

Smiling at her he sat down and began crafting a sentence that would cover what he wanted.

Tent of good rest and cleanliness, hidden from harm. That surprised him as it was an excellent first start though he kept playing around seeing if there was anything better.

Luna Lovegood's Hidden from Ill-Intent, Clean and Comfortable, Tent of Pleasant Dreams. That worked but was missing the partial elegance of his first attempt. He knew it didn't matter but felt it would work better the better it was written.

Since this magic was intent-based he knew he had to go with what felt better for him even if it was far more troublesome.

Looking down at the final wording he was sure it would be perfect. He began casting the word chain as he stood over the tent focusing on the desired outcome letting him magic fill the words.

"Luna Lovegood's Hidden Tent of Exceptional Rest and Cleanliness"

As the magic settled into the tent it began wavering before he could no longer see it. Walking around where he remembered it to be, he found himself not being able to find the tent.

If he couldn't find it knowing it was there with his magic protecting it chances are no one would be able to. Satisfied he went back to his desk and began thinking of what he should do next.

He once again made a checklist of what he had, what he might need and what information he needed more of.

Glasses allowing him to see incredibly well, even in the dark he could see clear as day. He always felt calmer after putting on the glasses as well, though still he was amazed by the sheer variety of colors that he could make out now.

His shoes were by far the most comfortable shoes he had ever worn though that was not all that special.

The wand was something else entirely compared to before placing his runes on it. While for some reason he had been sick after the glasses his magic was far smoother than before being sick. His wand now compared to before was an even greater change. He barely had to put any thought into his spells anymore, they came far more naturally now.

He wasn't sure what else he needed though he had some ideas already bouncing around for the horn and banner. If it worked out it would be glorious and become House Potter artifacts spoken of in awe.

He began scratching out a list of things he could use for anything that could happen. Seeing in the dark was already covered. Flying he had his Firebolt though a backup would be nice. A shield was something that would have served him well many times over the years. Oh!

He needed a way to stop anything from leaving, a way to lock down an area completely. If he had been able to stop Peter, he would be with his godfather. A few other ideas also came up though for now, he would focus on flight, shielding and imprisonment rune schematics.

As he started writing out ideas for flight he realized he needed something to put the flight runes on first. He made of list of what he commonly wore every day before finding something that would work fine. After years of wearing Dudley's too large pants, he had gotten in the habit of always wearing suspenders. What better to suspend him through the air?

Taking Flight like a bird the sky holds no limits. Well for a first try that was far worse than usual. He didn't want to flap his arms like a madman to fly around so everything related to birds had to be right out. Planes flew in straight lines so that was out as well. Helicopters were a bit better though far from what he was looking for.

Free from Earth's pull moving freely through the sky Suspenders of Flight. Okay, that worked way better! Seriously he had only played around for a minute or two and already found a perfect one.

He was wearing a shirt and trousers under his robe so he disrobed easily enough. The suspenders were soon laid out on the table in front of him he pulled the magic together settling the runes into the suspenders.

Once the runes were fully settled the suspenders begun floating inches off the desk making Harry yell out loud with glee.

"Yes! They work, this is going to be so wicked!"

Putting on the suspenders he could feel his body getting lighter and was soon floating off the ground. It was a strange sensation with nothing supporting his body he had nothing to base movement off. He was beginning to get sick as his body was adjusting to the new experience.

Focusing on the nearest wall if tried to calm himself as his body adjusted to the new feeling. It took him several minutes before he was settled enough to try moving around. Well after he figured out how he was supposed to move first.

After several false starts, he managed to discover it was the same as walking, not something you actively thought about just something you did. He also kept finding himself sideways and upside down often enough. Though nothing was falling from his pockets so that was nice.

After half an hour of cursing and smashing into everything, he was ready to go back down to earth.

"Bloody hell, I don't have a way to turn this off!? How do I get down!?"

Harry was beginning to panic at the thought of never being able to walk again when a giggle broke through his panic. Looking over he saw Luna had been watching him, for how long though he had no idea.

"So is the theory of flight being just missing the ground when you fall true? I should write an article about this!"

Once again, he had no idea what Luna was talking about, but he appreciated the interruption. At least she had managed to snap him out of his short panic.

"Luna I made my Suspenders give me flight, and now I can't get down."

Tilting her head sideways she thought for a few seconds and asked him the most obvious question.

"Have you tried taking the suspenders off yet?"

Face palming at the simple solution Harry promptly did just that unclipping a band. Once it was free the feeling of flight swiftly left him. He then admitted that his perfect wording was far from perfect if there was no way to turn them off or at least be able to walk.

"That was fun to watch, especially the part where you kept hitting your bum on the ceiling. Let me know when you want to practice again please."

From someone else, it might have come off as being mean or sarcastic. From Luna it was her honest opinion, it had been fun to watch Harry bounce off the ceiling like that.

Harry could only laugh at the earnest of her, she was different that was for sure.

"Alright Luna, if you want when I get it figured out I can get you something as well."

She nodded her head clapping in happiness as she replied.

"That would be fun, I would love to fly! Oh if you want I can send the stuff from last night off with a letter to Daddy. I'm sure he will help you out, he is really nice. Are you going to keep those suspenders or are you done with them? If you are going to make new ones can I send those to Daddy as well? He will love them for sure."

Harry had planned to throw the suspenders away so he finished taking them off and handed them over to Luna. He didn't need them for his trousers, he just was so used to them he felt weird without them.

"Sure Luna, just make sure he knows the only way down is to take them off okay?"

"I doubt Daddy will want to take them off but I will add that part if it makes you feel better."

He could only once again smile at Luna's antics. That was something different, something he wasn't sure what was going on but he thought he liked it. He smiled far more around her than he ever remembered. Even more than with Ron and Hermione, he found himself just happy around her. Not sure what to think about this he pushed it aside, for now, good with emotional issues Harry was not.

After they had gotten ready for the day, Luna packing her tent once again. She headed off with a shrunken bag of stuff to send home and Harry decided to skip out again today. In fact, now that he thought about it, he should just move into the room beside the library. A shrinking charm on his bed and he would be gone in no time. With his dormmates shunning him it would honestly be better away from them anyways.

First though was breakfast as Harry was rather hungry. It was no surprise that everyone was still ignoring him as he sat down. Really it had been awfully close to him losing the plot before Luna had come along.

He didn't need to force himself to talk to others for conversation. He would let them continue on with their shunning and he would ignore them completely right back.

After breakfast, he began packing up his stuff. It was clear he intended to leave but no one made even comment about it in the dorm, not even to each other. Deciding he had enough of this bullshit he shrunk the bed and made his way out.

After returning to his secret room he felt it was rather shitty for a room actually. Still, nothing some magic and hard work wouldn't set to rights easily enough. Well as soon as he knew more than the basic cleaning charm that was.

"I spend any more time in the library I am going to turn into a book."

Harry could not even begin to understand how he had functioned before without the few safe to use library spell he knew. What were ten minutes of narrowing down information with a few spells would have been hours of searching otherwise with worse results?

He had found the journal of a magical home builder that had died with no apprentice to pass his spells down to. From what Harry had read it was no surprise really, the man was a boar with a mean streak. He had not wanted his life's work to fade away and wrote he planned to donate his journal to Hogwarts upon his death.

Well, Harry was glad it had happened as the journal was packed with spells and enchantments that far surpassed any of the other books he had found. Specialized water conjuring enchantments for showers and baths, localized gentle drying permanent drying charms. Spells for lighting, temperature, humidity control and dozens of others filled the book. There were multiple spells to accomplish the same task for things he had never thought of. The one that stood out the most was the over ten different ways to make hard floors feel like plush soft carpet to bare feet.

While most of the spells were beyond him right now, he had been figuring out how to make rune versions of the ones he wanted. It would take most of the day but well worth it in the end. A few things he would need items for but he could mark off space for later.

It was lunchtime before he had cleaned the room fully and chalked out the layout. He had thought about making expanded spaces the journal had talked about though decided to hold off on that for now. He wanted to make sure he got that wording completely right before going ahead with that.

The flight rune scheme had been a lucky break. His first major error and it had been a harmless one that was easily fixed. It had taught him a valuable lesson to always check his wording for hidden errors. If it had been something else more dangerous the error could kill him.

At lunch, he decided to sit with Luna and have a good time for one during a meal. He noticed the strange and sometimes downright hostile looks Luna was getting during the meal. He decided then and there she would move into the room with him.

Whispering to Luna, as he wanted to keep the room secret.

"Luna, would you like to move into the room with me? I'm turning it into a full suite today, been working on it all morning. It will have a full bathroom and everything."

Tears formed in her eyes as Luna felt happiness from Harry's gift. Here he was with such an amazing secret and he was freely sharing it with her. Not only sharing it he was letting her have part of it! He had so much kindness in him it brought tears of joy to her eyes.

Her voice was thick with emotion as she wiped the tears aside to reply.

"Yes Harry, I would like that very much!"

She reached out and hugged him in joy overcome with happiness. Harry stiffened in reflex expecting a body crushing hug like the ones from Hermione. Instead, it was a gentle thing, light enough to relax into but firm enough to be a true hug. Harry relaxed into her arms as she hugged him, this was nice.

Luna made her way from supper back to Harry's, no wait that's not right. She made her way to their new room, much better. Taking a light breath she opened the door and could only stop and stare at the room as she entered. Gone was the dusty abandoned classroom, and in its place was a live-in suite.

Harry had created a storage area for bags and shoes right before a study area. This space was near the door and looked functional yet nice. A large desk with a chair on each side of it was clearly for studying together. While they may be in different years having company would always be nice. The chairs were sturdy and for some reason seemed more comfortable than they should be to her.

After that was a small lounge area with a short sofa and a pair of chairs in front of a fireplace that was burning along nicely. The light scent of firewood was perfect as the temperature was exactly right to lounge about. The air had a soft comfort feeling to it that the lights helped with. They were soft though bright enough to clearly read and write by.

There was a sectioned off area that had an assortment of random items from the room organized. If she had to guess this was to be Harry's rune testing area from seeing the rune testing tablet among the items.

In the far corner was a walled-off area she was unsure of. Besides that, though it was a half-height walled area she could see the tops of two beds poking up from. If she stood against it, she would just be able to see into the areas though otherwise, her privacy was secure. She loved the idea of having her sleeping area open but still private.

Harry was not in sight though his shoes and bag were clearly put up. Taking off her shoes as well and hanging her bag her eyes widened once again in surprise. Looking down at what should be cold stone floor she saw it was still stone flooring. Only it felt like the softest floor she had ever stepped on; she had slept in beds far less comfortable than this floor.

Wow, if this was the floor, she was excited to see the rest. She wasn't even sure where he got the furniture from but a quick sit in the study chairs let her know they were in fact perfect as well. She felt more focused than usual and energized.

Getting up she made her way back to the closed-off room to see what was there. The door slid into a pocket in the wall and she was then staring at a sight that would not leave her mind anytime soon. There was Harry naked under a waterfall of water off to the side of the room. He had his eyes closed and seemed to be relaxing under the water.

She watched and looked over him as the water poured over him, it was a nice look she decided. Eventually though she began looking around more and noticed the water was pouring from a metal plate stuck to the ceiling and was vanishing as it hit the floor.

Elsewhere in what was the bathroom she saw a large vanity mirror with double sink and another closed off area she was guessing was the loo. There was a table without legs sticking out from the wall that she was not sure what it was for as well. The table was more than large enough to lay down in and had a small shelf at the end of it.

Closing the door she decided to let Harry have his shower in peace and made her way to the beds. She was not bothered with nudity though she was aware it was inappropriate for an unmarried young man and woman to be naked around each other. She didn't actually care, she just knew it was something that she needed to be aware of.

She made a note to tell Harry about getting a lock for the bathroom or walling off the shower and changing area at least. She was sure the table was for holding clothes as she had seen Harry's laid out neatly on the table thinking back. Why it was shaped like that she had no idea though.

They were rather close to being the same though she figured out which was hers easily enough. It was the one with the mirrored vanity most likely, at least judging from Harry's constantly messy hair. There was a large ivory wardrobe for her clothes beside the vanity with a small bookcase in the corner that doubled as a bedside table.

She began unpacking her trunk as she moved into the bedroom. She enjoyed the vanity once she sat down in front of it to brush out her hair. There was magic on it that allowed her to see what she would look like with different makeup styles. While she wouldn't buy makeup usually it was nice to see what it could look like.

She could even change her hair color and style as she pleased. Playing around she gave herself thick wavy curls that looked really bouncy. Nodding her head she smiled as they moved in the mirror. When she shook her head she let out a gasp in wonderment. The hair flying in front of her face was not the typical straight fine hair she was used to. Now it was thick curly hair that matched her image in the mirror perfectly.

"Merlin, he made a Changing Mirror! That sweet boy has no idea what he has done I bet, no idea at all."

She smiled in thought at the clueless boy, no one had told him Changing Mirrors were great works of magic with only two or three rumored to still exist. She would not tell him he was doing the impossible multiple times a day it seemed with his insane runes.

She could tell he had somehow found a backdoor into the basic structure of runes freely altering them as he saw fit. How he was doing this she was absolutely baffled by. She did know she planned to have a talk with him about keeping it secret. The last thing she wanted was someone finding out and telling him all the ways he was wrong right now.

The number of ways he was breaking basic laws of magic was almost uncountable. He had added his runes to her enchanted tent, something that was not supposed to happen. You could add enchantments with some tricky work to runes, you could not add runes to enchantments.

She woke up this morning after the best sleep she had ever had and been cleaner than she ever remembered as well. Oh, and if that wasn't enough she could feel that invisible hiding thing that surrounded Harry all the time on her tent now as well. Except somehow he had made it so it didn't affect her at all!

If daddy hadn't taught her the trick of looking sideways through time she would have never noticed him. It was the passage of those little time waves that had gotten her to notice him. It was a good way of hiding that was for sure.

Playing around with the mirror a bit more she reset her appearance to normal and made her way to the study table.

Grabbing her bag she was amazed at how energized and focused she was sitting down. Once she got to work on her assignments she found her memory improved greatly and writing far easier than usual. Everything flowed as she soon found herself finished with her work for the week after only a few hours.

Looking up she was surprised to see Harry intent on his work as well across from her. He was focused on what he was doing so she got up without bothering him and went to take a shower herself. She made sure to lock the door behind her with a simple locking charm. Harry would feel bad most likely if he walked in on her while showering.

Nightclothes picked out she placed them and her day clothes on the table only to stare once again at something Harry had done. Her day clothes laid themselves out flat and shimmered on the table. Soon enough they were clean and new looking once again. In fact, they looked to be of better quality and fit than when she had got them to begin with. She watched as they folded themselves up and then made a pile on the little self at the end of the table. Her nightclothes laid themselves out as well and then shimmered. They didn't fold themselves out though instead staying there on the table. Looking closely they as well were new and better fitting than when she had got them.

"By the great Snorkack! Harry keeps this up and eventually he will just rewrite reality."

The water was still pouring out of the waterfall plate when she had entered. It seems Harry had not bothered with an off switch for it which didn't bother Luna. Stepping under the water she almost fell to the ground as her body relaxed fully.

Whatever he had done here it was amazing. She could feel her body, mind, and heart getting cleaner under the water. She had never felt so light before. The tears streaming down her face from the loss of her mother, the mild absence of her father, the betrayal of Ginny, the cruelty of her housemates, the indifference of the staff, the vileness of Snape and so many other hurts felt good to her. It was a cleansing cry, one that helped her put the hurts behind her. The tears soon changed and became tears of joy. Happiness filled her very soul as she put all her hurts and sadness behind her.

The mild ache from writing and walking about the castle faded from her body at the same time her heart troubles cleared. Her mental fatigue from the long 24 hours she had so far also washed way. Soon she was feeling fresh and clean like a new soul in a new body. Smiling she got out of the shower and once again was surprised. A gentle warmth spread over her, drying her off as she stepped away from the shower.

Getting ready to brush her hair once again she stopped and thought about trying out a hunch. Staring into the vanity mirror she tried to change her hair to fully brushed out already. The mirror showed her with brushed hair and she looked over her shoulder to check.

Her hair was brushed out and looking better than usual. If her next hunch was correct she was going to marry Harry Potter if she had to drag him to the altar by force. Starting small she tried to get rid of the small dragon pox immunization scar on her outer thigh. When it went away she looked down at her leg and saw it was gone as well.

No one, in the history of ever, had managed to make a full body Changing Mirror. This was something no one could ever find out about, it had to stay a Potter Family Secret, and she planned to be the next Mrs. Potter to keep it that way.

Seriousness over she began having fun turning her skin blue, then green. She changed form often enjoying the variety she could pick from. Changing sizes was really fun, first making herself pixy size in height and then a hugely muscled amazon. Changing back to her base appearance she laughed out loud. It had been fun to play around for a few minutes.

Fully dressed she unlocked the door and then put up her day clothes. There was Harry sitting on the sofa relaxing with a book. The image of him relaxing in front of the fire with a book was cute and Luna decided to start her Mrs. Potter idea.

She sat down on the couch with a book as well before turning and laying her head on his thigh. Pulling up the book she began reading ignoring the startled gasp and strangled sounds coming from Harry with a restrained smile.

Eventually, Harry stopped making strange noises and settled down. Smiling again in victory she planned for a good time spent reading a good book.

Harry had offered Luna to move in the room but honestly, he was unprepared for it at all. He needed to redesign the room for two people to live there full time along with finding proper furniture. While he was okay with an old student desk and chair, he did want Luna to have better. So, he had gotten out of the room and began looking throughout the castle trying to find the storage room. There had to be somewhere they kept spare furniture.

After Seamus had burnt his bed beyond even McGonagall's ability to repair a new one had been provided. Also, not every year had the same number of boys and girls so they needed more or less each year as time went by.

After 30 minutes he gave it up and went back to his source of all things learned recently, the library. Using his few library spells, he soon found himself back in the restricted section and oddly enough the teacher's area. Madam Pince had not said anything to him when he went back there so he assumed it was champions privileges once again letting him skate by.

There was a journal of a previous Majordomo of Hogwarts, which led to him wondering if they still had one.

In the journal he went on about a great many useless things, but he had found out about the Hogwarts Furniture Storage Area. It was located on the fourth floor eastern wing behind a large hanging tapestry of an apple tree. You only had to announce a need to enter the room and a hollow in the tree expanded into a doorway.

The storage area was not small, it was made up of several rooms each with various furniture in them. They were under well-maintained stasis charms as some of the furniture was clearly ancient. He had found a nice lady's bed for Luna and a great deal of other interesting pieces. End tables, a double desk, study chairs, and even some good wardrobes. The lounge chairs and sofa had been an excellent find. The mirrored vanity was gorgeous and the double sink with full body vanity mirror was the single greatest thing he had found.

After an hour of digging around, he was satisfied and made his way back to their room. The Majordomos journal was still in his pocket as it was filled with incredible secrets about the castle. There was a large indoor sunning pool that had been installed in the 16th century when it had became popular for a short period of time. He planned to surprise Luna with that for sure one day.

Rechalking the outline of the room he started setting up the furniture humming along as he went. It had taken a little bit of time extra, once he was done though, he was happy with it. Now to add Runes to everything!

He had already figured out the floor runes as he wanted them to also tie into the shower room.

"Comfortable beyond compare this floor is always clean and dry"

That should work instead of the plethora of spells that he had not the slightest how to cast that were needed to charm the floor.

Next was the study table and the chairs though they would have separate rune schemes.

"Let your thoughts and words flow free, working here is so easy"

That should make getting any homework or studying done at the desk much easier. No sense in not making it easier if he could after all. Keeping it from getting boring would be nice though. So with that in mind, he set about the chairs.

"This chair will focus the mind and energize the body"

Harry was always one to go with his gut, and his gut was saying for everyday useful items everyday useful language was best.

The sofa got relaxing and calming work with the lounge chairs getting a little line on good conversation. The beds were fun with pleasant dreams and restful sleep. It was the mirrors he had come across his first hang-up.

The builder's journal spoke about lady's mirrors allowing them to see different looks. That had been a royal pain it had, coming up with the wording for it.

"In this mirror feel free to change, for what you see will be reality"

The mirrors in Luna's area and the bathroom had taken a little bit out of him. So he had gone back to doing a few simple ones as he felt back up to par again.

An expanding charm on a flat metal mirror he had found on the floor had been stuck to the ceiling in the corner where he wanted the shower to go.

"Cleanse the body, spirit, and mind with ever-flowing waters of comfort"

He wanted to finish most of everything else before trying out the waterfall shower so he began building the walls he had needed. Expanding and then making permanent with runes the various walls took a short time.

He was unsure why there were so many spare toilets in the storage area but it had made setting up the loo easy enough. Odor control runes on the walls, vanishing runes for waste and a cleaning scheme when the room was empty kept the whole thing easy to handle. Creating a roll of ever-full toiled paper had been the hardest part about it honestly.

He had an idea for something to clean and mend clothes when he finally hit a block. The room was mostly finished and he felt okay taking a shower now. Hopefully, the shower would spark an idea and he could finish the bathroom soon.

He had lost track of the time he spent under the shower but after the first dozen or so minutes, he just stood there eyes closed feeling born anew.

The scars on his mind and body were gone, literally in the case of his body. The scar from the basilisk, the lightning bolt on his forehead, the various scars from growing up at the Dursley's all them and more were now gone.

He had cried so very hard as the loss in his life had swept over him. It had been heart-rending to realize how much hell he had gone through in his short 14 years. Then the best part had started, the few good memories that stood hands and shoulders above the rest. Foremost had been last night, there amidst all the pain and hatred of the year so far was a nice, cute girl trusting him and holding his hand. He had focused on the memory of holding Luna's hand until he promised to do everything he could to do it again. He didn't know what this overly protective and happy feeling was, but he really wanted it to stay forever.

After the shower, he had figured out a rune scheme for the cleaning and mending table before getting dressed again. Leaving the bathroom he was surprised to see Luna hard at work studying. Deciding that was a good idea he grabbed up his supplies and followed suit.

He was surprised to see she was finished when Harry was done, he hadn't even noticed she had gotten up. Seeing the bathroom door closed he figured she was showering and had a thought, he needed to install a lock on the bathroom. Though he would need to figure something out for the loo, that would be bad if one of them needed to use it and the other was showering.

Grabbing the majordomos journal he relaxed on the sofa and started reading. After a bit, he looked up to see Luna sitting down beside him. Starting to say hi he stopped when she then laid her head down in his lap.

"Lu.. uh... you're… ummm…" Luna had started reading as he tried to make sense of it but finally gave it up as a bad job. She was really close to a really awake part of him right now. He began focusing hard on his book and ignoring everything else.

It took him a bit of time to get used to her as she kept moving slightly every now and then, waking part of him every time. He managed to read some eventually and it was getting better as the night wore on.

Harry smiled in happiness; his life had been a train wreck it seemed since the goblet had spit his name out. Right now, everything was perfect he felt. Looking down at Luna he didn't see how it could ever get better.

A/N

Bit longer this time, almost double, when I wrote it, it all just kept flowing and I didn't want to break it up. Enjoy the longer than normal chapter and seriously, thanks to everyone who has commented here and on Reddit! They really are nice, I had forgotten how nice reading comments and hearing back from readers is.


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up he felt better rested than ever before. Luna had stayed up late reading last night and he had not wanted to ruin the amazing moment. Even Hermione had never been that close to him that long. Even when she had sat close to him before there had always been a distance. With Luna, there was no distance at all.

Making his way into the bathroom he looked over himself as he brushed his teeth. He really wished his scar was gone and smiled as the mirror image of it vanished. Deciding to have fun with his image he started cleaning up his hair by lengthening it out some. When it reached his shoulders, the curls went from messy rats nest to Fabio curls. Laughing he made his hair red in the mirror, a softer red than the Weasley family ginger red, it was more the strawberry blonde of his mother.

Turning away he stopped and stared at the changes, they were real. Looking back into the mirror he didn't know what to say. Luna walked in while he was looking back and forth between the mirror and his hair.

"Harry go outside so I can get ready for the day, please? We can talk about the mirror and your hair in a few minutes. It looks good on you though."

Stumbling out Harry sat down on the sofa and started thinking about what had happened. He was trying to remember what he had decided on for the mirror words when Luna came up and sat in the chair beside him.

"It's called a Changing Mirror Harry, they are rather rare as the only person that could make them died out hundreds of years ago. Only a few are still in existence, ignoring the two you made yesterday. Just by being able to sell one Changing Mirror every few decades or so you would never have to work again."

Luna spent some time explaining how rarity made value and the dangers of everyone being able to freely change their looks. What she was most happy about was being able to keep him from realizing how special the runes he made were.

Playing it off as something more common, she gave a few examples of lost magic being found again. While it did happen it was usually no more than once every hundred years at best. It was not this reinventing of the rules of runes and magic on a daily basis Harry was doing.

"I do like the new hair though, looks good Harry. Looked good before as well though, so do what you want okay?"

She leaned over the sofa arm and gave him a quick hug. Smiling he got up and went back to the mirror. Curly red or messy black, he kept switching back and forth trying to make up his mind. Finally, he choose curly red and had turned all his hair red to match. Blushing he checked and all his hair had changed. Giving it a thought he smiled as it all went away and his armpits were smooth once again.

While deodorant charms worked well he hated having body hair everywhere. It was not a comfortable feeling and he was glad to be rid of it all. Running his hands over his smooth face he smiled and began playing around with growing various styled beards. He found out facial hair was itchy and gave it up, making his face smooth without the typical stubble it normally had.

This was fun as he gave himself a more muscular appearance. Nothing major but a few inches taller and some defined muscles made him look far more manly.

"Awesome, totally keeping this!"

Trying to move was quickly a problem as his clothes were to small and uncomfortable now. Coming up with a quick line he added a runic scheme to his clothes.

"Shrink or grow, big or small, always fresh and clean"

It was quick and dirty but it worked as the clothes shifted around him. He tested them out by growing to gigantic proportions and making himself small as Professor Flitwick. He liked being taller though so he grew to a height that was the upper end of what a 4th year should be and called it good. The muscles were obvious but not huge, more like a professional quidditch player would be.

Stepping out he saw Luna sitting in a chair by the door waiting for him. Walking over he grabbed his shoes and bag letting her lead the way to breakfast.

They sat down at breakfast that Saturday enjoying the quiet together. Few would be up this early on a Saturday morning so they could relax.

"What are your plans for the first task? Do you know what it will be?"

Luna hated to bring up the tournament but they needed to prepare for it. She needn't have worried over much, he was handling the ordeal better now. The shower of cleansing had done a great job, Harry had moved onto the acceptance stage already.

"We were only told it was a test of courage and that we would find out on the 24th. No other hints or clues at all, all I can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best right now."

Luna nodded and then started asking pointed but helpful questions. What were the plans for the stand and banner, did he have any plans for protection, offense, healing or even escape?

They stayed at the table for some time generating ideas before the great hall began to fill up. As it was Saturday they went ahead and went back to their room.

Luna looked up from where they had been working for the past 3 hours and started talking.

"First off wow, this desk and chairs work really well, they are incredible Harry! We didn't lose focus once, and it was all so easy to work here."

It felt good to hear she liked something he had made. He had never made anything before this last week in his life. Sure potions were something but that was different. This was his thoughts and hard work put into creation. It was his, he had made it, and she liked it. Once again he had no idea what that warm feeling was but he liked it.

"Thanks Luna, yeah they make all this work much easier for sure. You have some great ideas as well for me to try. I really love your Time Healer, it will be dead useful."

The phrase was simple and he had used a time turner before so he knew time manipulation was possible. The idea was for the Time Healer to take a snapshot of an injury back in time before the injury. Then it switches the damaged parts with the snapshot of the parts undamaged.

"Rewind Time to Find Whole and Hale, Damage Replaced with Time's Embrace"

They had worked hard on that one and finally gotten it just right. They had decided to split the line in half horizontally on a ring. It would be written across two halves that twisted around each other. They would click out of and into place. When they are turned a quarter turn the words would line up and the person would be repaired completely. They drew up some ideas and then set them aside. Once they felt they had a good assortment of items developed they would get them together to send to her father.

Harry was going to go back to the storage room and find an old mirror to set another Changing Mirror rune scheme on. Her dad would trade it for the items they needed to be made from the goblins. Goblins don't ever sell anything, they only lease. They do trade for keeps though, and that is what they needed. These items would be Potter Family Secrets, to say the least.

Harry had provided the materials and was asking for labor, not material, for his banner project. Luna had spent a bit of time explaining goblin practices to him. If he had been setting up his items to become goblin property she would have stopped him before letting him send them off.

Harry was rather proud of a pair of bracelets that could each act as a shield. They hoped that if activated together they would form a more powerful single shield.

"Spring to Life When Needed, Shield House Potter from Harm"

The theory was they would autoactivate as needed. This should help shield from sneak attacks. Not having to worry about activating a shield while fighting would be rather useful as well.

Luna's would have House Lovegood on them, for now at least, until she got her name changed after the marriage. Not that Harry was aware of her plans.

The flight rune scheme had been refined as well along with a rune scheme Luna asked for. It rang slightly familiar for some reason but he agreed to make it for her easily enough.

She had wanted a rune scheme that would make her unnoticeable to anyone besides designated friends and her family.

"Known only to those called True Friends and Family, Luna Lovegood is Hidden"

That had been placed on her favorite ring she always wore so she wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

The offense had been fun as they came up with more and more horrible ways to kill others. Luna had a cruelly creative streak buried deep down underneath that Harry could appreciate. More than a few times growing up, and even the last few years at Hogwarts, Harry had found himself daydreaming about acts of horrific violence.

The finalized plan for the offense rune scheme was not offensive in nature. Instead, the rune scheme made it so any harm was reflected back to the aggressor, with interest.

"Return Three-Fold any ill-deed attempted or completed against House Potter"

This they made, and changed to Lovegood for Luna, right away placing on a pair of Knuts. First, marking the Knuts so they didn't spend them on accident.

They were excited to test the flight runes, so Harry set the updated scheme on two pairs of suspenders. One for Luna, with the other for him, and they started flying around the room learning the basics.

Once they could move about without bumping into everything they played a short game of tag. Feeling confident enough to fly in open spaces now Harry suggested they move out of the room.

With her new ring keeping her from being noticed she followed Harry out into the castle halls. As they got used to moving in large spaces, they began having more fun with it.

Smiling, they swooped about the great hall, flew up and around the grand staircase, and had fun about the castle laughing with joy. Soon enough they made their way outside building up speed and having a grand time. The thrill of flying gave way to hunger after long enough.

They flew into the great hall laughing as they moved about in the air. Harry went to sit down when Luna pulled him up again instead. Whispering to him she told him her idea and he agreed it would be fun.

They floated over the tables grabbing a plate and filling it up. There were many rules in Hogwarts, not that they really cared right now, but Luna was sure flying without a broom eating dinner was not one of them. Not that anyone would notice them anyway.

Harry kept waiting for Snape to spew off at him but the man never gave Harry so much as an irritated look.

Seriously at this rate, he was going to show up starkers to get some attention. Regardless, floating lunch was fun so he planned to do it again for sure.

After lunch they finalized the ideas they had made and Harry showed Luna the storage area. She found a few things she would like for their room and shrunk them. Harry found an old mirror that would work and placed the rune scheme on it.

Making their way to the owlery she sent off the shrunken mirror and parchments to her daddy. Hopefully, he would get back with them soon enough.

The weekend passed with them playing around and getting in some studying. Come Monday Luna had gotten a reply from her father.

The goblins were willing to do all the crafting Harry needed to be done for the mirror in trade. They had offered a few extra items as well, the trade was too imbalanced for their sense of honor. Xeno had thanked Harry for the Suspenders of Flying as well in the letter.

He was a huge fan and took them off only long enough to change clothes it seemed.

Everything would arrive in two days, as some of the pieces were close enough to stock the goblins already had.

Monday was a slog all day, Hermione was ignoring him along with everyone else now. He took a shower to cleanse his mood during lunch and handled it better afterwards.

His life was not measured by the standards of others, it was his self worth that mattered. Even if he needed validation Luna was there for him.

He focused on getting his work done and ignoring everything else. Working in potions by himself without Snape bothering him was a miracle.

He was amazed at how much easier it was to work like this. He had always assumed it would be harder without a partner though it seemed that was far from the case.

After supper with Luna they made their way back to their room and got started on their homework.

One of the benefits to the room was it's close to both the Library and the Great Hall. Having a private dorm room on the first floor cut down on travel time significantly.

How such a valuable place was abandoned was beyond him though it was not the only one he had found. A few others on the first floor along were the same as this one.

After staying up and talking with Luna somewhat late Tuesday morning arrived soon enough. When an owl arrived for Luna bearing the Gringotts seal they smiled to each other. Harry decided to skip classes today and get to work on the rune schemes.

All the rune work had been easy enough with all the practice Harry had gotten this week. He was at the point where he would quietly cast rune schemes on his quills and ink pots when we was bored.

The issue came with the Banner Pole Stand made of Basilisk Skull, Banner Pole made of Basilisk Ribs and the heavy Banner flag made of some unknown fabric. The materials resisted magic to begin with, much less his ambitious plan.

He wanted to cast all four rune schemes at once on all four objects. It would tie them together powerfully reinforcing his idea for them.

He had spent all day since half past breakfast working on just this. He was refining his technique but it was slow going.

Luna finally dragged him out of their room for supper. He was stewing over it all dinner and could only make small talk with Luna as they ate.

He didn't need them for the first task most likely. He really wanted them for the first task though and they would likely be of great help to him

After supper, he explained the issue he was having. Trying to focus so much at once was difficult to put it lightly.

She suggested he build a rune scheme to help him focus and better control his magic. He was hesitant about doing that and agreed to do so tomorrow night if he couldn't get it by then.

Harry felt that this was important for him, it was challenge that he would grow from overcoming naturally. That was what kept him so focused, the opportunity for growth in this new field.

It was the 23rd and then first task was tomorrow. He was nervous and determined to finish his rune scheme today without help.

He worked through lunch though Luna had brought him a sandwich. Taking a shower to clear his head he made it back to the four items.

He began writing out the full verse slowly, slower than ever as he filled each letter and word with just enough magic to not fall apart hanging in the air.

_Call to Arms True and Clear, House Potters Clarion Call arouses Fear_

_Heed the Call, present the Stand, Enforce the Call upon the Land_

_Banner Pole of Truth and Trust, Ensure House Potters Cause is Just _

_Banner, Pole, Stand and Horn Unite and Grant Victory in this Tribulation, Protect House Potters Continuation_

The whole thing was huge and the last rune sentence was the largest yet. It took him over 20 minutes just to get the words all written without exhausting himself. He had to work abnormally slow as he went letting his magic recharge just a bit faster than he was filling the words out.

It was after supper when Luna came in and saw a paragraph of words hanging in the air above everything burning brightly.

This was the most magic he had controlled yet and she could see the strain on Harry's face.

Coming up slowly beside him she gently took his free hand into hers. Softly whispering encouragement to him hoping to grant him extra strength.

He noticed Luna and felt her grip his hand in hers. Her quietly whispered support marshaled him on as he continued.

Still he could feel more room for magic so more magic he continued to press into the floating runes. It had been an unknown amount of time after Luna had shown up and she was still there. Still whispering her quiet encouragement and gently holding his free hand.

The words were beginning to gain weight now, he would see them warping the weave and weft of the air around them from the sheer amounts of magic in them.

No normal runes could hold this much magic. It was the sheer amount of them supporting each other as they were intended to that kept them from exploding.

Finally, the air seemed close to catching fire around the runes when he started lowering them to the items below.

He could see them warp when they settled, changing the nature of the items into something more. They were now the symbols of House Potter.

With the arduous task complete Harry allowed himself to relax. Luna led him over to the sofa where she settled down next to him.

"That was amazing Harry, you did it!"

He felt wiped out, not only some magic exhaustion but also from finally having finished the work. He smiled at Luna thinking of how she was so helpful.

"Thanks for the help Luna, you're the best."

She had not let go of his hand yet and squeezed it. Harry really was a nice guy, fairly handsome to boot as well.

"Harry, I'll always be there if you need me, promise."

It felt good that at least one person was there for him still. He may have not known Luna before this all started yet he still found himself relying on her so much.

After an hour of relaxing together, they got up and went to their bedrooms calling it a night.

A/N

A fair bit of what he is doing and they style of writing for his rune words are cringe, to put it mildly. He is a teen boy trying to make items of power. His only companion and voice of reason is Luna Lovegood. We all do silly stuff when young that we cringe at as we grow older. Also though his freedom to be cringe lets him be far more free with his creations than perhaps a responsible and mature person would be. It's a toss-up for me between being youthful and cringy while being a bit mature. Either way hope you all like it and have a happy first day of Christmas!


	6. Chapter 6

He woke up feeling good after a great night's sleep. He still wasn't happy about today, the tournament was not something he was looking forward yet he had to face it.

No one had told him a thing about today so he decided to follow Cedric after Breakfast. Showering and looking over himself he prepped for the first task.

He was wearing his new Bracelets of Shielding and they had tested them a little bit this morning. The updated Suspenders of Flying were on, and his Time Healer ring was on his right pointer finger. The Amulet of Retribution was tucked away and he felt good to go.

Stuffing the horn into his bag they both made their way to breakfast. While nervous he still managed to get some food down.

Dumbledore called for the champions to head down to the pitch which was now an arena to the Champions Tent.

Harry followed after Cedric and was waiting in the tent. Luna had given him a solid hug before wishing him well just before he entered the tent.

Inside the four champions were standing around waiting for the next part when Crouch showed up.

He began by saying they would each draw from the bag to determine the order and what they would be facing.

Harry was not going to let himself get the leftovers and pushed ahead drawing from the bag before anyone else. The startled sounds that came from everyone as he did so surprised him slightly.

Did they expect him to just wait around to be pushed to the back? Harry was not going to let others push him around if he could help it.

Drawing out a green dragon statue he looked at Crouch for an explanation as he stepped back.

Crouch was switching between staring at the bag and the dragon in Harry's hand when the other champions started drawing theirs as well.

Fleur drew a red dragon, Krum a large blue and white one, with Cedric drawing a massive beast that looked to be more spikes than anything else.

Crouch finally snapped out of his fugue and explained the order along with the task. Leaving he was mumbling to himself about something or other as he went out.

Harry felt no need to talk to the other champions and so made his way to a chair beside the door staring out it waiting for his turn.

The other champions soon forgot about him as they started formulating plans of their own.

Harry was deep in thought when some ministry person put their head in the tent yelling about Harry going first.

Standing up he gripped the Horn in his left-hand plan half-formed. He stepped into the arena, ready as he could be.

Looking about the stands he felt his stomach drop some. Here watching, judging and sneering were many of his schoolmates. It still felt like shit to be treated like this, though he had made peace with it.

That was until he heard a few voices yelling above everything else.

Luna was cheering him on with an infectious smile. He knew she would always be there for him.

What surprised him the most was the yells from Ron and Hermione. They were screaming at him to not get hurt and they wanted to talk after, wishing him good luck.

The twins flying Harry Potter flags and being silly fools was to expected, bringing a laugh from him.

Feeling much better he stepped forward towards the dragon raising the horn to his mouth.

A piercing tone cut through the stands as he blew. It silenced everyone as they each felt it deep within. Some felt fear and terror at the sound. Others were uplifted by it, feeling rallied by the call.

A large skull with bone banner pole appeared in the arena behind Harry. A thick heavy banner with the name of Potter below a coat of arms hung solemnly from it.

With the appearance of them the feelings from the call of the horn doubled. They felt themselves facing truths about themselves and their actions towards Harry Potter.

It was not just a few who gasped in horror at their actions, at how they had been making themselves an enemy of Harry Potter.

Ron and Hermione felt good though there were a few minor actions they regretted most of all they felt happy for their friend.

Those who could honestly call themselves a friend of Harry Potter all cheered loudly. The call had not been one of terror for them, it had been a rallying cry. A call to arms as Harry Potter planned to battle this day, allies more than welcome.

Harry looked over the Dragon and was not sure how to feel. It had clearly not been an enemy nor had it been judged a friend. Simply an animal, a beast, a mother, defending hers from outsiders.

He could not in good faith bring any great harm to the dragon. Yet he could not skip this task; his life and magic were on the line.

He began casting a rune chain he devised for the dragon on the spot. He took the time to use the disguising portions of it as he wanted it to seem like an unusual spell instead of a rune.

"Dragon Mother rest your eyes for minutes five" The runes shined brightly, an illegible mess of light and overly elaborate script. A calligrapher would be hard-pressed to make sense of the words.

The runes splashed off the dragonhide, breaking apart into nothingness. His experience with the Basilisk bone encouraged him to try again with more power.

He cast again this time pumping it full rather fast exhausting himself some. This time the light was harsh to look at and he had to shield his eyes from the runes.

They managed to overcome the dragon's natural resistance as the dragon fell asleep rather fast. Still, it was not a deep sleep and he feared it would not last long at all. Running to the nest he grabbed the golden egg and sped towards the exit.

He entered the tent only to see the school nurse waiting around. She looked up and sighed before moving over to her potion cabinet. Handing him a calming draught she moved him along informing him to rest and he would be fine. Ministry folk had been coming in all day asking for calming potions, it was a routine at this point.

Ron and Hermione had been anxious for the past few days. No one had seen Harry since the day he skipped out on the Weighing of the Wands ceremony.

As it was not a task he technically had not been required to show up. Of course, the headmaster had called for them both at the time. Honestly not knowing where he was they had said as much.

The headmaster had set the castle a buzz looking for Harry. He had disappeared, though the headmaster was sure he was still in the castle somehow.

Even so, with both Dumbledore and the ministry being unable to locate him they had gone on without him. Both Dumbledore and the ministry made it clear the incident of Harry being missing at the ceremony was to be kept quiet.

Even that ugly reporter Skeeter had seemed to understand that she was to keep mum about it.

Ron and Hermione had figured Harry was taking a day or two to collect himself. He had disappeared off and on the second year as well to calm down. They would usually find him in a hidden closet somewhere curled up in thought.

After searching the castle for a few days they began to get worried. Talking to the staff had been useless as well. A few minor encouragements and a promise Dumbledore was taking care of it did not help their calm at all.

Ron and Hermione had talked it out a bit over the last few days before the task. While Harry was always quick to rush headlong into something, he always was honest about owning up to it.

While not fully convinced they were fairly certain he would have owned up to it at least. The little doubt remaining came from his bragging with the boys the night before about wishing he could enter the tournament.

When Ron told Hermione that Hagrid had offered to escort Harry out to see what the task would be in the Forbidden Forest they knew it was important.

If Hagrid felt Harry needed an escort, the same Hagrid that sent them first year after a Unicorn killer and second year into an Acromantula nest, well, it was going to dangerous as hell.

They hadn't found Harry but Ron had snuck along anyways to find out. Nesting mother dragons, Harry had to face certain death.

They had started scouring the castle for Harry after that. Even skipping classes to search for him though no sign of Harry was found.

They spent those last few meals before the task desperately searching for him and making plans to help.

Ron didn't care if Harry entered himself or not, he didn't want his best mate to die.

When the day of the first task arrived they had still no luck finding Harry. Making their way down to the arena they were prepared for the worst.

They didn't know when Harry had stepped into the arena, somehow not noticing him enter it. Well after he blew that war horn of his they certainly noticed him.

Ginny had gasped out loud and started crying when she saw the huge skull appear holding the flag pole.

They managed to get the reason out of her soon enough and it caused everyone who heard to blanch in fear.

That was the skull of the Basilisk Harry killed the second year. The largest Basilisk to date had only been over a meter long, the skull was almost two meters wide.

Ron summed it up best with a muttered "Bloody Hell"

It was the coat of arms that drew their attention. Hermione had checked and the Magical House of Potter did not have one. She had researched all the families her second year trying to find the heir.

So where had Harry found their coat of arms then? It dawned on her as she looked at it.

"The stag, that's his Patronus, Harry must have made designed it himself."

Ron nodded and then noticed something else that struck him.

"Harry changed his hair, it's the same red as the banner. Wasn't his mom a redhead? I bet the green matches his eye color as well."

Everyone nodded at that, Ron had seen Harry's family album more than anyone else in the group. If anyone knew the color of Harry's mother's hair in the group it would be him.

"Either way the thing is intimidating as hell, makes me want to jump into the arena it does. I can feel it, wanting to fight side by side with Harry, it's deep magic. I wonder where Harry got it from? That's powerful magic it is."

Hermione had to agree, whatever it was had Harry's friends all riled up. They felt a charge in them ready to be unleashed.

"Look at Malfoy, he looks terrified. Most of the school does actually, what is going on?"

Hermione was always one to catch the little details and these hadn't passed her by. Her brain was trying to put the pieces together into something she could make sense of.

The twins provided the answer though, their reverant and quiet tone far from the norm.

"War magic, Harry's found himself some war magic somehow. That's powerful stuff, used to inspire allies and strike fear into your enemies. That's not something most people ever hear about, much less learn to use."

Ron figured out the implications of what war magic could mean before the rest.

"That would change the whole battlefield. Spells that affect entire armies, bet there is more than controlling emotions though. That's the type of stuff you hear about in legends. Blimey Harry, that's some powerful stuff."

Hermione had started calculating the numbers present and that all of them seemed affected. She gasped when the numbers finalized in her head.

"Over a thousand people here right now. Including some of the most powerful witches and wizards alive. Every single one of us is affected."

Hermione then realized what this meant for Harry. Surely magic like this was restricted, kept secure. If Voldemort had access to something like this he would have steamrolled across Britain.

"War magic, the ministry is going to come down on Harry like a ton of bricks over this."

The twins chimed in again with that declaration.

"If the ICW doesn't first, this is broadcast internationally. They will figure out what happened soon enough, and then Harry is going to be in for it."

They all hoped Harry would talk to them about after the task. This was far more important now than making up.

Crouch Sr. was not pleased at all, in fact, he knew he was screwed. The Delacour head had made it clear his daughter was to have an easy time of it. When the Administrator to the President of Magical France made a comment, you paid attention.

Crouch had charmed the bag so the first draw would be the Welsh Green. Compared to the other dragons it was easy, compared to the Horntail it was a kitten.

That little shit Potter had stepped out of nowhere and drawn first before he could start his Ladies First speech. To make matters worse he had charmed it so the last draw was the Horntail.

Someone had tipped him off that Potter was talking to Black, and that Black was innocent.

If Potter came out with that information he would be lucky to avoid life in Azkaban. Added in the stress of his son still wandering around and it was all an Erumpent horn waiting to explode in his face.

Diggory had gotten the damn Horntail and his father was a division head of the Department of Creature Control. Damn it all to hell and back, this was a mess. He could only hope the French bint made it through fine and Diggory didn't die.

After the first task, Crouch held his head in his hands as he tried to figure out what to do. Potter had made the task look easy while scaring the hell out of nearly everyone. The Delacour girl was lucky to have survived at all.

She had tried her allure on the Chinese Fireball, an already energetic dragon, and gotten a wall of fire in return. The healers were still trying to keep the girl stable.

Krum had spammed Conjunctivitis curses until one finally stuck. That had pissed the dragon off something fierce and he had lost an arm for his trouble.

Diggory had transfigured some rocks into animals, which anyone who knew anything about Horntails would tell him was stupid.

The dragon's breath had broken the Transfiguration and it had decided he would make an excellent replacement for the missed meal.

There wasn't enough left of the boy to fit in a matchbox.

Crouch was screwed royally, the Delacour family, and thus the French Ministry, were out for his head. The Bulgarians would want him for ending Krum's quidditch career.

Amos Diggory would be after him with wand drawn. None of that was even considering his errant son running about doing who knows what.

Making his decision he left and started packing. Rumor had it the Goblins had recently gotten hold of a Changing Mirror which could be used for a steep fee.

After paying for a new identity and face he could hide out as a volunteer in the Northern Encampment for a few years. Service granted citizenship after all.

Albus had been frustrated for over a week. Harry was missing and he had no luck in finding the boy. His tracking and monitoring charms had all failed the same day as the Weighing of the Wands ceremony.

That had been a disaster as well, especially getting Skeeter to stay quiet about it. He was forced to use some blackmail he had on her to keep it quiet.

The elves, portraits, ghosts, teachers and Harry's friends had all been useless. Luckily the boy had at least shown up for the task.

Albus had startled at the War Horns call. It had labeled him as a wary supporter, neither enemy nor a friend of House Potter. It was honestly the best he had hoped for, though the truth field that accompanied it was dangerous as well.

That had forced all the judges to judge fairly and honestly. That meant Harry had gotten almost full Mark's across the board.

Still he had paled as he realized the boy had somehow come across War Magic. The War Banner made of bones of an enemy slain had made that clear enough.

He had tried to think of anything else it could be but failed to find an excuse that would work. The ICW would be expecting his report soon enough. War Magic was not something they took lightly.

The sheer number of international laws and treaties on War Magic was frightening. Harry Potter had just upgraded himself from a minor hero of a country to a major asset on the world stage.

This was going to be a shit storm. Which led to the most important question, where had the boy learned it?

More frightening was had the boy discovered it himself somehow? If so that means it was likely new magic he was still refining. The potential of it would make Harry Potter a prime target by everyone if that was the case.

If countries couldn't get control of him or make sure he was under tight ICW control they would be seeking to kill him. A weapon not under your control was a potential threat to you after all.

Damn it all, Harry what have you done now? At least the boy was well hidden. A glance over at his friends he noticed they were on the right track already. No need for him to nudge them in the direction of preparing for the ICW.

Even better after they had judged his score that blasted banner had vanished away. At least he didn't have to try and confiscate it.

Harry was waiting in their room for Luna after the first task was over. It was with a morbid curiosity he wanted to hear who things had gone. He hated having to compete but wanted to see how well he stacked up.

Luna came in crying and it took an hour for her to get the full story out. He was the only one who had gotten his egg. Fleur Delacour would be lucky to be moving by the second task. Victor Krum's quidditch career was over and Cedric Diggory was dead.

"Bloody hell, this thing is a death game. Luna, we have to work out the next task no matter what."

Harry had thought about his friends wanting to talk to him and decided to pull them aside before dinner tonight.

He had gotten extremely lucky today compared to the others. He was also sure he had hidden his rune magic well enough no one would figure it out. At least he didn't have to worry about the ICW coming down on his ass.

Harry had created a quick rune scheme attached to the room near the great hall that would cause honesty and keep secrets. Luna was in the room waiting for him already.

He saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins looking around for him as the walked towards the great hall. Stepping out he called them over and led them to the room.

Once inside he closed the door and added a locking charm to it.

Turning back from the door Hermione latched onto him with one of her powerful hugs. Ron reached out and gripped his shoulder.

"Harry, I don't care anymore if you entered your name, this death tournament and you surviving is more important. You're my best mate, I've missed seeing you."

Ginny added her hug to Hermione's and the twins nodded along to Ron's speech.

Hermione stepped back and began talking in a worried tone.

"Harry where have you been, we haven't seen you in over a week!? We were so worried about you! We spent the last two days looking for you even harder. We knew what the task was and wanted to tell you."

Harry was confused and it showed on his face.

"What are you talking about? You've been ignoring me for days now."

That startled Hermione and Ron clearly as they had not been avoiding him at all.

"Nah mate, we've turned the castle upside down trying to find you."

Harry tried to lie real quick and couldn't, so the truth runes where working. So what was going on?

"I've been in class with you all and eating near you for most meals. Well until last Friday anyways, now I've been hanging out with Luna instead."

He gestured over towards Luna and they looked not seeing anyone there.

The twins spoke up at that point.

"Harry unless you're having us on there is no one over there. You're sure you didn't hit your head?"

Luna lifted up her ring and pointed at it causing Harry to face palm.

"You knew they wouldn't see you so why didn't you take it off already?"

She skipped over and took his hand smiling at him.

"I figured out what was going on this morning during the task. No one saw you before you blew the horn Harry. You had to see it happen with others before you would understand."

She took off her ring and everyone jumped in shock as she appeared in front of them holding Harry's hand. They hadn't even noticed he was holding someone's hand.

"Blimey, what the hell was that!? Where did you come from?"

"I was here all along Ronald, you couldn't know I was here. Harry hide me so no one could know."

Hermione had her eyes widen in realization at what had likely happened with Harry. Cutting her off before she got started Luna nodded to the other girl and started talking.

"Harry leave the room for a few seconds and then come back okay? Don't say anything just walk out, close the door, and then come back in okay?"

Harry had no idea what she was going on about but trusted Luna so he did so.

Hermione started to check with Luna that she was correct before the girl asked her to wait just a bit.

After a little bit, Luna called their attention before reaching up into the air. Next thing they knew she was holding Harry's glasses in her hands and he had appeared out of thin air again.

"How did he do it though? Of course, he would do it to himself somehow on accident and not realize it, but how did he do it?"

Harry was confused and clearly began to say so before Luna cut him off again. She was doing that a lot right now and he had no idea why.

"Potter Family Secret, that is final. He can agree to share with Family Friends but it will be a Potter Family Secrets."

The gathered Weasley family members gulped. Family Secrets were big things, to share them with someone that person had to be close, or even closer, than family.

Ron started thinking about Luna announcing Family Secrets and not Harry. Looking he saw her hand in his again, well that cleared up that question.

Hermione had not come across Family Secrets in her studies, they were not the type of thing to be written about after all.

"Family Secrets, what is that and why do you know them then?"

Luna was straightforward in her answer to Hermione, well aware of the truth rune scheme in play.

"I know them as he told me without realizing how important what he had discovered was. I call them Potter Family Secrets as he is lacking still in magic social rules. I claim them as only Potter Family Secrets as I plan to marry him and become Mrs. Potter, thus the secrets will stay in the family."

Harry started coughing at the announcement Luna had just given off. He liked Luna, she was someone he had found himself caring for. To marry her though, he thought about it and was forced to be honest to himself.

"I'm not ready for marriage but I care for her a great deal. Not soon, but one day, we could get married I am sure."

He started blushing horribly at the thought of what he had said and looked down. Luna gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek that broke his embarrassment.

Eyes wide with wonder he touched the cheek she had kissed. A silly smile breaking across his face.

Hermione clearly uncomfortable decided to push on with the conversation.

"Okay, but what are Family Secrets? The name says a great deal but there is something more to it than just that it seems."

The Twins took over from here having recently learned some of the Prewitt Family Secrets involving twin magic.

"Olivanders wand creation and magic are Ollivander Family Secrets. Ogden's Fire Whiskey brewing is an Ogden Family Secret. Family Secrets are something the family has discovered that makes them unique. Something that gives them some advantage or is so dangerous to the public it must be kept secret."

They looked at Harry and remembered Luna just appearing out of nowhere. Harry had been talking to her and Luna to him yet they couldn't even guess she was actually there. Looking at each other they nodded together.

"We bet that Harry's magic is both types. Something that Harry figured out that is amazing, also incredibly dangerous if discovered by others."

"We all thought it was War Magic, but now we think it's something more than even that. Something more dangerous than War Magic, Harry whatever this is keep it quiet and protect it with everything you can."

"We are dying to know but we don't want to die for knowing. Find a way to keep that knowledge safe. It's dangerous enough to kill for just from what we have seen right now."

Ron had been dealing with the twins long enough to figure out what they were talking about.

"Bloody hell, Luna was there in front of us talking to Harry and we couldn't see or hear her. If an assassin or robber got hold of that magic no one would be able to stop them. Harry mate, this is serious, it's like having a Queen on the chessboard that ignores all the rules and can win before the game begins."

Harry looked to Luna and she nodded. Harry realized he may have hidden his rune magic but it wasn't much better. Which reminded him.

"War Magic, what's that?"

After a few minutes, he had a clear idea of what they were talking about. He also realized he was likely going to be under ICW investigation.

Stupid banner, it had seemed so cool at the time. A way of telling everyone how angry he was and to scare off types like Malfoy.

Now it was a noose around his neck, one he had put there and tightened himself!

They all agreed that until Harry found a way to keep his secrets safe it was best for their safety if they didn't learn more about it.

Luna and the Twins grabbed some food for everyone from the great hall as they all sat around catching up. It was nice having his friends back and knowing they hadn't abandoned him.

He smiled late into the night talking with his friends and holding the hand of Luna.

A/N

Merry Christmas from my family and I. Enjoy the story this day, now I am going back to having fun and playing Uno with my daughter.

Ron and Hermione are just kids, and kids are flawed and silly people, same as all adults as well. They make mistakes but are always there for him in the books in some fashion or the other. I'm glad the posting schedule let me get this nice make up chapter out today.


	7. Chapter 7

Exhausted from the day and late-night he barely made it into the shower that night. His mind was a whirl with the many things that had happened today. Luna saying she was going to marry him, suspected of discovering War Magic, fighting a Dragon, a champion dying and the other maimed severely. Luna saying she was going to marry him, his friends still being his friends, Luna saying she was going to marry him, Family Secrets, Luna saying she was going to marry him, Luna kissing him.

Yeah, that part was a big deal. Harry had never known anyone who wanted him like that. Ron was a great best mate, Hermione was a good friend, the boys in the dorm were always a good laugh. None of them was anything like Luna though, she was something different that he really liked.

Sitting on the sofa he was thinking when Luna arrived sitting down beside him. Just like that first time she turned laying her head on his thigh before pulling out a book.

"You're comfortable Harry, I like that."

He smiled at her simple statement, he enjoyed having her close to him. Unsure what to do with his left hand he just rested it across the back of the sofa.

He kept trying to focus on his runes. He needed to think of a rune scheme that would let him tell them secrets and keep them safe.

Well, he kept trying to but parts of him kept calling attention to the pretty blonde in his lap. Giving up he just laid his head back and tried to relax. Eventual he must have succeeded as he woke up on the sofa the next morning with Luna cuddled on him.

He realized two things right then, the first was he loved this moment and would easily make a Patronus right now. The second was he really had to pee right now.

Getting up carefully he made his way to the bathroom getting ready for the day.

Stepping out he woke up Luna so she could have time to get ready this morning as well. She had woke up when he got up and was just dozing still.

As she got ready for the day Harry sat down getting a list together. First, he needed a way for his friends to keep secrets. It had to be something they were unlikely to ever take off or lose.

Then he needed something that made them able to find him that only they could use.

After scratching around he came up with a bracelet idea. Making them hide secrets including themselves should work.

He was getting closer when Luna came over and started helping.

Secrets Known are Secrets Kept, even after I have left, Bracelet of Kept Secrets.

It wouldn't hide the bracelet but it would protect any secrets learned even if the bracelet is lost or taken.

He hoped to trade a pair of pendants he would rune for the goblins for at least five bracelets.

"Luna what do you think, will the goblins trade for five bracelets if I offer them a pair of pendants with this rune scheme."

"See the Disguise, Hear the Lies, Notice the Thief, Trust to Keep"

Luna laughed out loud and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek.

"Harry they will make as many bracelets as you want for a pair of these."

He smiled at the peck on his cheek and nodded. He had a pair of wooden pendants he had made up that he set the runes on.

After the night before the first task runes had been much easier. He had been right, working through such a difficult rune scheme had advanced his skills tremendously.

Luna wrote another letter asking her father to make the trade with the goblins.

They made their way to the great hall and sat with everyone. He had charmed a sickle to let friends interact with Luna and him. Passing the five of then he had made to his friends each was named only to work for the name on each. Fred and George could sort themselves out.

Breakfast was nice spending it with all his friends again. Though he could see a few strange looks sent his friends way when they spoke to Luna and Harry.

By the end of the day, Harry was feeling much better. Though there was an awkward moment when Ron had realized Harry wasn't sleeping in the dorm anymore.

He had understood that Harry had betrayed and moved out of Gryffindor. When he explained he literally couldn't tell them or show them where he was staying, it had taken some convincing.

Still after offering to make a study room next to the library just for them where they could relax Ron and Hermione relented.

He was interested to see that he couldn't even talk about it now. It had taken Luna also holding the hand of someone for them to even approach the door with them. Her name being on the door changed ownership to both of them so they both had to keep each others secrets.

He cleared out a smaller room next to his and got to setting it up. He had altered the secrecy portion having it be according to an access list. All seven of their names were on it with more protections on keeping it secret.

Everyone had been impressed Saturday morning when he dragged them there to show them. A few double desks again and far more sofas and chairs gave the room a comfy study feeling.

He was still waiting to hear back from Xeno on how the trade went. Hopefully, it would go well, Luna seemed sure of it.

They had decided to try and figure out the clue to the egg as no other champion had managed to even get their egg. This would help him greatly for sure or at least keep him from being disadvantaged.

When the horrible screeching started he had slammed it closed right away. When Luna opened it again they looked at the crazy girl is askance.

Closing it after a bit she nodded.

"Mermish, or some underwater language at least. They are all either really high pitched or to low for us to hear. No idea what they are saying though."

Everyone was agog at the girl, she had the most random knowledge of things sometimes. It was a start and that was something.

Out of reflex Harry sat down and started trying to write his runes only to find he couldn't actually write anything.

It took him a minute to realize what was happening. The secrecy runes were preventing him from accidentally sharing in front of others. Shrugging he got up, grabbed the egg and walked over to Luna.

"I can't write anything out with others around it seems. Going to the room, I have an idea I want to try."

Nodding Luna waved him off and started on her homework. He didn't look stressed and hadn't asked for help so she trusted him to be okay.

He had a random set of a man's and women's torque that had been among the extra the goblins had sent for the Mirror. It was worth far more it seems than the few unenchanted trinkets he had wanted.

Writing down ideas it took him only a few minutes to determine a workable solution.

" Hear the Words, Speak the Sounds, Your Gift of Languages are without Bounds"

Setting the rune scheme in the men's torque he put it on and opened the egg. It hurt his ears for a few seconds though it slowly started making sense. After a minute he was tracking what the words were. By the time he had listened to the full thing twice and written it down during a third time, he was fluent in the language.

Setting the enchantment down on the woman's torque for Luna he made his way to the study room.

Handing the torque to her she put it on without question. She trusted him and it was rather nice looking.

Once it was on he started talking to her in that screeching language for about a minute until she started replying. Soon they were chatting back and forth without pause.

Hermione was amused and really hoped Harry found a way to tell them safely soon. This secret was killing her to know, but she didn't want someone to kill her for it.

After Ron pushed his shoulder and told him to stop giving them a headache. Laughing Harry switched to English and handed over the parchment he had translated the word to.

They all agreed they had no idea what would be used. Regardless it seemed like a good idea for Harry to learn to swim.

Harry remembered the sunning pool room and then twins confirmed it saying they had come upon it in their explorations.

That could wait though as he had months to learn to swim. He quietly also knew he could come up with some runes that would handle the issue rather easily.

Sunday afternoon Hermione found Harry to let him know the Headmaster needed to speak to Harry. As the Headmaster could not find Harry he had approached Hermione after figuring out she was talking with the boy again.

Harry made his way up to the room, Luna following behind him for support. If no one could even know about her then no one could stop her.

They were slightly worried about the Headmaster's role as an ICW representative. Hopefully, it would all end easily enough.

Harry announcing himself to the gargoyle seemed to be enough for Dumbledore to see him again and he greeted Harry as he entered his office.

"Harry, it's great to see you again. You've given me a bit of a scare disappearing like that for so long. You are looking good so it seems to be okay."

Harry nodded and replied.

"Yes sir, doing fine. I just was getting ready for the task sir. Really only want to make it through this tournament alive and whole sir. I've been lucky so far, the others were not nearly so lucky."

"I understand, we will be holding a silent vigil tonight in the great hall for Cedric. That was truly regrettable, horrible tragedy."

Before Harry could reply Dumbledore's demeanor changed and Harry could feel the change. Gone was the kind headmaster, in his place was a powerful wizard who ensured order in the largest governing body of magic in the world.

Here was Supreme Mugwump Dumbledore and he had questions.

"It must be known, was the magic used during your task learned from another, a book or discovered by you."

Harry could feel the full weight of Dumbledore's magic pressing on the room. Luna was off to the side gulping but nodding encouragingly to Harry.

He sat up some and replied as much as he was willing to answer.

"I figured it out on my own after putting some things together."

Taking a deep breath he screwed up his courage and continued on.

"That's all I will say about it, it's now Potter Family Secrets and will stay that way."

Dumbledore was happy inside, if Harry could stand up to him even somewhat right now then Harry should get out of this with minimal restraints. If he had folded then he couldn't have been trusted with such powerful magic.

"Understood, yet the ICW must make itself clear here. No Nation or Army may gain access to this magic of yours. House Potter may not levy any armies using this magic as well without ICW permission."

Luna was thinking hard and realized this was a test for Harry. As the hopefully soon to be lady Potter she felt it was well in her right to help out Harry on the sly.

"Harry, agree but you have to ask for compensations of some kind. This is your magic they are trying to control, a fair deal needs to be struck."

While them not throwing Harry in prison seemed like a fair deal already, he trusted Luna.

"I can agree to that, but what do I get in return?"

Dumbledore was excited to hear the boy, no young man before him ask for what he could have in return. Harry would make it through this fine enough.

"The ICW will label you a protected ICW asset. This means you will be protected from national incidents. Any trials involving you must be under ICW jurisdiction and are required to be held fairly and honestly."

That seemed fair to Harry though Luna was telling him to ask if there was anything else.

"Is that all or is there anything else?"

Nodding he went for the last and most important test. First, he needed a few most answers from Harry.

"Yes Mr. Potter there is more, but we need to know if you have shared any of your new magic and if so, with whom."

Dumbledore watched as Harry started staring off focused on something. The young man seemed deep in thought until he startled and began talking to the air.

"What!? No, you don't have to do that?"

Recoiling after a few seconds he began talking quickly.

"No, of course, I care for you and it could work out fine. I just don't want you forced into marriage!"

Albus was sure somehow the boy was communicating with someone. Interesting, that should not be possible, his office was secured by some of the most powerful magic the ICW offered.

"Well yes I would be happy and if you are sure then yes. Still, we should be doing this proper like. Alright, I'll listen and stop talking."

After a minute Harry nodded and looked to Dumbledore.

Albus had a vague idea of what was going on and found it amusing. He struggled to keep it off his face as he maintained his stern visage. The poor boy was already learning the ropes for marriage before he was married.

"My fiancée Miss Luna Lovegood is also aware of the nature of my new magic and has been helping me discover more of it."

Albus started thinking, the Lovegood's were eccentric yet highly intelligent people. Everything he could remember of Luna, not much honestly, reinforced that her intelligence and eccentricity were in full force.

The Lovegood girl would be a good match to learn how to push his magic to the edge. They were also an old pureblood family well aware of how things worked. It helped they had friends in almost every country or ministry he could think of.

Yes, this could work well. If this War Magic of Harry's was powerful enough it could also easily count as a power Voldemort knows not. Not that Voldemort would be an issue if he could get Harry on board for the next bit.

"I assume somehow you are communicating with her despite the impressive security of my office."

Harry had the good nature to look embarrassed at least but he nodded to something and sat up again.

"If you can give your sworn word as Supreme Mugwump to keep my Family Secrets I can explain."

Excellent, he was right, the girl would be perfect for helping Harry swim the dangerous waters of politics.

Raising his wand and reaching out his hand he held Harry's as well. Tapping his wand to a ring hidden on his middle finger it showed itself, a glow surrounding their hands.

"Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore calls the magic of the ICW to secure anything said in this room until all occupants leave."

A wash of magic spread outwards from the room bringing hundreds of runes into focus. The paintings froze and there was a stillness in the air.

"From this point forward anything told can only be shared by agreement of both of us."

Harry was in awe and looked over to Luna. She was fine it seemed, the magic had not known she existed so it could not affect her somehow.

"Alright well promise to not freak out please sir. Luna if you would."

Harry gestured to the side of the room and Dumbledore looked over just to drop his wand in astonishment. He was stunned as the Lovegood girl appeared in front of him.

That had not been invisibility, she has simply not existed there until just now. The feedback from the spells and runes made that clear, she was not there a second ago.

"Oh dear Harry, what have you stumbled in to?"

Harry and Luna had a short discussion deciding that Dumbledore's seal of secrets as Supreme Mugwump would be fairly good. Still, she handed him a knut and he added his room secret-keeping rune scheme to it.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at what he saw, not even sure what he had seen. The way Harry had accomplished it made it clear that it was an easy task, one likely practiced a few times as well.

"Sir it all started when I was trying to figure out how my name being put into the Goblet meant I had to compete."

It took almost three hours for the whole story to come out and for Harry to give a few examples.

To think he had put two and two together and instead of four, he had solved a mystery of magic few were aware even existed.

This was far bigger than he could have ever guessed. It took Harry coaching him for all of ten minutes before he had made a successful rune scheme with Harry's method.

"Harry I will be honest, you need to join the ICW War Council. I had planned to try and talk up your magic a bit, see if I could get you on it. Now I'm honestly afraid of what could happen if you don't join. Knowledge like this will change the landscape of magic."

He made sure both Luna understood how grave this was.

"I won't play any games here, this is far too important. We need you to join the War Council, likely we will leave tonight and you will be inducted no later than tomorrow morning."

"Your magic will easily be declared a World Threat Level Strategic Asset (WTLSA). As such you and Luna will be given your own personal security detail at all times. Your magic will be shared with the other WTLSA members. A magic contract protecting your knowledge will be signed by all and you will sign on to their contracts as well."

"If you pass without a designated heir, one of your choosing, then the magic knowledge will be locked away and unusable by the other members. This ensures they will each do their best to keep each other alive."

"You will have the most powerful and dangerous magical beings in the world looking out for you. As Voldemort has declared himself against you they will send in a mop-up team. He will be handled in weeks at most. Harry this is the best possible solution, better than anything I could have dreamed of."

Luna leaped across the chair arm and kissed Harry with a hug.

"Harry this is great, we can learn the limits of your runes even more. The best in the world will be helping us! We'll be safe and can live without fear of others coming after us for the secrets of your runes."

Luna broke down slightly at that and cried tears of joy. She hadn't said anything but she had been so worried about the secret getting out.

Albus knew the Prophecy was moot now, hell even the Tri-Wizard tournament was garbage. The ICW Fate Breakers were rarely used and only in the most serious of circumstances. The subverting prophecy was not something taken lightly. Harry's coming status as a WTLSA would qualify for them to be brought into this.

Breaking the enchantments on the Goblet would also be easily accomplished with an ICW team. He was willing to bet if he had thought of it, Harry could have done so easily as well.

He noticed the Lovegood girl had realized the potential danger they were in and that this was a refuge from that danger. Indeed he had been right, the girl was perfect for Harry's needs.

"Yes sir, that sounds good. I guess we're ready when you are."

Albus sent of a Patronus to Minerva stating an emergency had come up and he would be out for a few days.

Using the floo he led the two into ICW headquarters. It was going to be a busy few days, though he was honestly happy for the first time in what felt like decades.

Harry would have a safe and long life now well protected. Voldemort was no longer an issue, and the boy no longer had to die. The Fate Breakers would take care of any issues that popped up. Smiling with joy he led Harry and Luna down the ICW halls.

A/N

The first story is complete, once the muse comes along again for this story I will return and publish an epilogue. This story draws, and my next one as well, from my main story AU. I have been working on the main story AU for some time now. The Fate Breakers and a few other things mentioned throughout the story are from that AU. I enjoyed letting him hide his runes for as long as possible. Still, reasonable expectations should exist about something as powerful as that. PIcture the Armies of Grindelwald marching with scores of banners like those and worse. It makes sense the ICW, and various countries would keep a careful eye out for such magic.

I hope you all enjoyed my work and had a wonderful holiday!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Everything not clearly HP is mine. Everything else is not. Fairly simple. If you are a bit hazy on the story I really recommend you go back and reread it to this point. **

**It has been a long breaks since the last chapter, life has been happening and now it is time to get back to it. I have a great deal more written and will be releasing them every few days over the next few weeks. Hopefully that will give me time to get even further along in the story. It is taking a rather dramatic turn from canon at this point on. There is a world I have been outlining the basics of and am currently making into a novel series. I want to use this story to test a few ideas out and see how they work. Feedback would be great! This chapter is not from Harry's POV and shows some of the normal behind the scenes stuff from another POV. **

**Enjoy!**

Æðelflæd looked up as she heard the distinctive chime summoning the members of the Senior War Council ring.

She had been working on a ballad for two years now and could use the break. Pulling herself up from the pile of fabrics she had rolled into sometime in the recent past she stood. She looked across the courtyard where she had ensconced herself in since she started writing, where her war dress floated.

Everyone on the Senior War Council was eccentric to say the least. At nearly three thousand years of age, give or take, she was no exception. The magics that had gone into her war dress were more magic made manifest than enchanted material.

Snapping her fingers, she dressed and slid into the bell chime riding the call to the War Council chambers.

There she saw Igor had already arrived before her, though only just, judging from the smell of ozone and rolling thunder.

"Truly Igor, must you travel so crudely?"

Igor snarled at her; they had been bickering for the last three hundred years. Nothing serious but it kept life less boring at least.

"Better than Yun Chi over there!"

He emphasized his point waving his arm out the eastern balcony where they could see Yun Chi's procession arriving.

Four hundred wizards in step riding golden clouds escorting a large ancient coach pulled by no less than twenty Heavenly Flying Tigers.

Waving her wrist, she had to admit he was right there. Yun Chi always made such a giant production of things after all. At least in public, he was far less stuffy among the Senior War Council once they were alone.

Yun Chi was a walking example of why none of the senior members, and only a few regular members, of the War Council were in leadership roles.

Imagine having to rule over idiots hundreds or even thousands of years your junior making the most idiotic of mistakes for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Everyone on the senior council greatly pitied the man.

Yun Chi dismissed his escort before entering the chambers. They could literally see the years wash off the man as he flopped into his chair sitting sideways.

"Sun had the right of it, thank the heavens for this summon though. I was about to declare war on the moon or some shit again just to get a break."

Said Monkey King laughed as he jumped from Yun Chi transforming from a hair pin to himself.

Yun Chi looked at Sun for a solid minute his face frozen solid.

"How long?"

Sun looked over at Yun Chi and shrugged. A lopsided grin on his face.

"Dunno, been napping there since the last meeting, what year is it?"

Yun Chi lost the battle with himself and let out an inarticulate cry of anguish, rage, and frustration.

"That's it! I'm taking a break Sun, I swear right here and now, no more! The empire's yours for the next celestial cycle! I'm done!"

Yun Chi started laughing then at the look on Sun Wukong's face. Sun was horrified at having to deal with imperial politics for the next 81 years. His face had turned jade white and his mouth had fell open.

Yun Chi was bent over double laying sideways across his chair as he looked at Sun's face.

A laughing yip announced Coyote as he crawled out from underneath the table morphing to his human form.

He hadn't bothered with any clothes it seemed besides his medicine pouch and war paints. No one on the senior War Council cared about modesty enough to ever say anything about it.

Besides Coyote made most of them seem positively infantile when comparing age. At what the fuck ever age he was he could dress however he felt.

Shadows grew across the last two seats, which receded showing the forms of Twijma and Uju.

An odder pair of friends would be hard to find. Twijma was a young, relatively at least, African Cannibal Warlock of nearly five hundred years.

Uju was an Australian Bushman of unknown age, even to himself, who had fallen so deeply into Bush Magic he was barely even human anymore.

With everyone here Æðelflæd knocked on the table drawing the meeting to a start.

They all looked at the floating divination construct in the middle of the table. It seems in a few hours the Supreme Mugwump planned to introduce a new potential member.

It was standard protocol to review the potential and see what they could uncover. They had weeded out several over the centuries who had tried to sneak their way onto the War Council.

They scryed the past to see what the potential fuss was about. Amazingly enough the vast majority of what the wished to see was blocked off from scrying.

They could see into the room he had made his base in Hogwarts once they scrolled back to before he did something to the room.

No one had any clue what he had done but that was little worry. They rolled back time more and finally saw the details of the spell he was casting.

Igor laughed and explained the spell.

"Basic scrying focus spell. Used to help gather the intent for beginning divination users. Graduating from that spell is one of the first hurdles of any divination expert, an easy hurdle at that."

He then cackled as he went on.

"Not the slightest clue what the spirits be damned he just did with it though."

They all watched the scenes of him learning the spell and casting it on the door frame several times.

Frowning they rolled back further and finally saw what the lad had done.

"No fucking way!"

Everyone looked over at Sun and had to agree. The boy had taken a fringe theory and ran with it.

Æðelflæd had even recognized one of the articles he has used to create his theory as one she had wrote nearly six hundred years ago. It had been a passing interest she had given up on as a dead end.

With their new knowledge they reviewed the door work and deciphered what he written on the door.

"This room is secret so stay away unless you're me, Harry Potter"

There were various reactions to such a simple yet seemingly extraordinary phrase.

One little line had stopped the most powerful divination artifact in existence from further scrying in the room.

That alone would guarantee his work would be classified under ICW jurisdiction. The four artifacts he had created for the first task only pushed it even higher up the chain of importance.

Yun Chi was first to speak, it was clear how powerful those artifacts could shape a battlefield.

"We need to see him, that is certain. I want to study those artifacts. From the readings it looks like they are not protected from analysis. That has to be fixed first and foremost."

That received affirmations from everyone on the Senior War Council. Luckily no one had cast any diagnostic spells on the artifacts when they were present during the task.

They began working out the magics using the scryer and after an hour had a good hold on what they did.

Everyone at the table was floored at the potential they represented.

In less than a week he had made family line bound artifacts capable of severely weakening enemies. The artifacts were also capable of judging the righteousness of the caller's task.

It was reassuring he had put that aspect in but worrying as well. Artifacts that powerful were usually great undertakings and not something just created by a single underage wizard in less than a few days.

They managed to backtrack to the end of his second year where he had battled the Basilisk. His actions there alone were great enough to warrant his tapping as a potential ICW battlemage.

It was Twijma and Igor who both sucked in a breath at realizing what the diary was. Sun followed them shortly afterwards figuring out what bothered them about it.

Twijma then spoke in his deep rolling voice.

"This Voldemort had made soul jars. Look here."

He pointed at a reading on the boy that closely matched the reading from the diary.

"That is a false jar, I have only heard of such a thing. Zeus was said to have made one on accident."

The group grew extremely serious at that. Zeus had been a major enemy of the ICW until they had finally finished him off four hundred years ago.

The insane lightning mage had split his soul so many times many of them had grown into their own separate personalities.

Over half the lighting gods of the past had been a soul jar controlled magical being of his.

Twijma continued on once they digested the news.

"To make a false jar you have to split your soul at least four times from what I have researched. The soul must be so unstable that it can leak parts with minimal provocation."

Tom Riddle suddenly found himself in one of the worst places to be. Square in the sights of some of the world's most powerful mages, all with the intent to destroy his soul.

No one wanted another Zeus.

Still they believed they understood partially what had given his artifacts such power. Using the bones of a thousand-year-old Basilisk, slain by your own hand, as a focus for a magical artifact was some serious ritual level work.

It remained to be seen if that was intentional or not. The interview that was soon to come would be most enlightening.

Coyote was normally few for words, they were always worth listening to.

"We must destroy all parts of Tom Riddle's soul, regardless. A demonstration of Harry Potter's rune magic is needed. If it's as we believe then I approve his inclusion into the War Council."

They all assented to his words. It closely matched their own thoughts. Coyote was always one to cut to the point.

Æðelflæd nodded and then smiled.

"We have a few minutes until they arrive, let's get some food and drink shall we."

Shortly they all had food and drink laid out as they caught up.

The senior war council had not been called together formally in over a century. They ran into each other here and there but an introduction of a new member of the War Council by the Senior members had been a long time ago.

They were not called together lightly. War council members changed as old ones died and new ones took their place. The regular members often passed their position down to their apprentice as time went on.

In fact, before a War Council member could even go to battle, they were required to have a formal apprentice. It kept the magics safe and preserved if the worst were to happen.

Even that was only the first of many backups they had to keep these extremely powerful magics safe from being lost.

The senior members of the War Council were only called for two reasons. The first was if someone was about to really fuck up.

Just the threat of then potentially being called had been enough to turn the tide against Grindelwald. No one in the magical world wanted to see these power houses unleashed on the battlefield.

The second reason for being called was the introduction of a new War Council magic. There had been some new and rather dangerous magic's created in the last hundred years but nothing on the level of War Magic.

The Socio family had been the most recent introduction over a century ago. They had found a way to cause spells to become infectious.

Imagine a death curse that killed you and everyone within ten meters of you. Then everyone within ten meters of them, never ending until there were no more victims.

It was only the inbuilt protections of the War Council magic towards new potential members that had kept them from wiping out the family.

Even Sun had realized the threat a magic like that represented. The Socio family had been one and all bound under the vows of the War Council.

Harry Potter's magic was just as equally if not more so as worrying. The least they would require was an upgrade to Fate's Pool. That was the official name of the divination tool they used.

This incredible device was the careful construction of the seven most powerful scrying devices to exist.

The ability to block their scrying was not something they could let stand. Not for any sense of superiority just that is represented a potential hole in their security that had to be addressed.

They were well into food, drink and comfort when they realized that Harry Potter was soon to arrive with Supreme Mugwump along with that girl Harry Potter seemed interested in.

Uju signaled for the young man to come alone into the room, and noted he was not wearing his glasses.

Reaching out he pulled them across the room to the pool and had it begin analyzing them.


End file.
